The High Court has refused an application by an anonymised Nigerian man to quash a decision affirming the refusal of his claim for refugee status. Mr Justice Eagar held that the tribunal decision was reasonable and dismissed the application for certiorari.
The judgment, delivered on 4 February 2015, concerned a 2011 appeal that had been decided without an oral hearing. The man sought to have the Refugee Appeals Tribunal decision set aside and his appeal sent back for a fresh determination by a different tribunal member.
The man’s account, as summarised in the judgment, was that he had been involved with the All Nigeria Peoples Party and injured his eye during a riot in 1999. He said that, after returning from Austria to Nigeria, a political party was looking for him. He also said he left his family home after his stepmother threatened him. These were claims described in the judgment, not findings by the High Court.
The tribunal had found that the man did not raise political difficulties in his initial questionnaire or at his first interview with the Refugee Applications Commissioner. It considered that omission undermined the credibility of his political claim. It also questioned his account of travel to and time in Austria, noting that he had initially said he had not sought asylum elsewhere. The tribunal further considered that the alleged eye injury, even if politically motivated, was a single incident many years earlier and did not amount to persecution. It concluded that his fear of his stepmother was not well founded.
The man’s counsel argued that the assessment breached the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006, including requirements for individual, objective and impartial examination, and that country-of-origin information had not been consulted. Counsel for the respondents pointed to gaps and inconsistencies in the account of his movements and the lack of supporting evidence.
In dismissing the challenge, Justice Eagar said the basis of the claim was unclear and referred to the applicant’s account of his Austrian asylum application, departure from Austria, return to Nigeria and later arrival in Ireland. The court concluded there was no basis to overturn the tribunal’s decision. It refused the application and dismissed the certiorari claim; it did not order a fresh tribunal hearing.