The High Court dismissed R.A.’s application to quash a Refugee Appeals Tribunal decision upholding the refusal to recognise the applicant as a refugee. The court found the Tribunal’s assessment of credibility legally sound and refused leave and the relief sought.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Eagar on 17 September 2015, concerned a judicial review of the Tribunal’s decision. R.A. had sought certiorari, declarations about the effectiveness of the remedy under EU law, and other relief. The High Court’s role was to review whether the decision-making process was legally sound, not to reassess credibility itself.
The applicant, described in the judgment as a Bangladeshi national, said he had supported and associated with members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He claimed he was implicated in the killing of an Awami League member and feared arrest, an unfair trial and harm if returned to Bangladesh. Those were the applicant’s claims; they were not findings by the High Court.
The Tribunal had rejected the asylum claim after making adverse credibility findings. Among the matters it considered were that the applicant had not been arrested or charged before leaving Bangladesh, had spent three months at his sister’s home without being found, had made no enquiries about the progress of the case, and had given accounts involving an arrest warrant with differing translations and a discrepancy in the name. The Tribunal also questioned aspects of the applicant’s account of travelling to Ireland without a passport.
In the High Court, the applicant’s counsel argued that the Tribunal had made factual and legal errors, including failing to give adequate regard to the arrest warrant, the applicant’s evidence and country-of-origin information. Counsel also argued that the adverse credibility findings were irrational or inadequately reasoned and that the Tribunal had not properly considered the risk of future persecution. The respondents defended the decision.
Justice Eagar said the Tribunal’s conclusions addressed the applicant’s credibility and the likelihood of persecution in light of the claimed circumstances. The court held that the decision complied with the case law governing credibility assessments in refugee cases. It dismissed the certiorari application. Because the hearing was telescoped, the judge also refused leave and the reliefs sought. The judgment did not grant any of the requested declarations or injunctions.