What is Judicial Review?

Judicial review is the review of a public authority decision by the Canadian Federal Court. If the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) happens to reject a candidate’s claim for refugee protection, an application for the claim to be reviewed by the Federal Court can be filed.  If it is in the claimant’s best interest to file such a review, it must be filed within 15 calendar days from the time the decision was made by the IRB.

Requesting a review by the Federal Court is a 2-stage process. 

Stage 1 

the Court reviews your case documents to see if the decision made on your file was fair or reasonable, or if there was an error either in law or fact, or a combination of both.

If the court agrees with your claim that you have received an unfair decision, the Court gives leave. Meaning, the Court agrees to examine the decision made in your case for a more in-depth examination.

Stage 2

The second state is considered the Judicial Review, wherein you will be required to attend a hearing at a Federal Court in order to present the reason for which you believe that the Immigration Refugee Board (IRB) was wrong in their decision of your claim. You can choose to attend the hearing on your own or you may choose to be represented by your lawyer. The decision of the Court can be decided one of 2 ways. 

1. The Court can rule in favour of the initial IRB decision, in which case, you will be required to leave Canada, or
2. The Court can decide that your claim should be returned to the IRB, where your case will be reconsidered. It is important to note that having your case returned to the IRB does not mean the initial decision will be successfully reversed.

If you are considering this process, you will want to seek legal advice from Sam Law as soon as possible. Book your personalized consultation today, so that you can understand the options available to you and how decisions made by certain departments affect your ability to stay in Canada.