The High Court has refused an Ivorian woman leave to seek judicial review of a decision rejecting her refugee appeal, after finding there was no good and sufficient reason to extend the filing deadline.
In a reserved judgment delivered on 6 February 2009, Mr Justice Cooke said the application was brought well outside the 14-day limit under the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000. The Refugee Appeals Tribunal had rejected the woman’s appeal on 11 July 2007, upholding a recommendation that she not be declared a refugee. She began the High Court proceedings on 9 November 2007.
The woman claimed she had fled the Ivory Coast because her parents wanted to force her to undergo female genital mutilation and had sent men to kill her after she refused. The Tribunal concluded that her fear lacked objective support and that she had not shown a well-founded fear of persecution. It also found that state protection would be available, citing the illegality of FGM in the Ivory Coast and prosecutions of practitioners.
The woman argued that the Tribunal’s credibility assessment was irrational because it did not adequately consider country information, medical and anthropological evidence, identity documents, her explanations and legal submissions. She also challenged its assessment of state protection.
The court considered her explanation for the delay, including efforts to find solicitors in August 2007. But Justice Cooke said there was no explanation for the failure to take steps during September and October, before a letter on 30 October informed her that the Minister proposed to make a deportation order. The judge said the delay remained substantial even if August were discounted.
The court also considered the proposed grounds. It found that alleged factual errors about the timing of the woman’s husband’s death and details of an incident involving intruders did not materially undermine the Tribunal’s decision. It concluded that the credibility findings had a basis in the evidence and that the Tribunal had considered the medical report and country information, while making its own assessment of the claimant’s circumstances.
On state protection, the court noted that although the woman said police had dismissed an earlier complaint when she was 18, she had not sought police protection against the alleged death threats after her husband’s death and before leaving the country.
Justice Cooke held that the delay could not be excused and that the proposed grounds offered no reasonable prospect of success. The court refused leave. It did not determine a full judicial review or grant the requested orders to quash the Tribunal decision or restrain deportation.