Ottawa, January 7, 2016—The Honourable John McCallum, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today issued the following statement:
“The Government of Canada is pleased to announce that it has discontinued its appeal in the case of Y.Z and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers v. the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. The case involves access to the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
“An amendment made to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in 2012 denied people from designated countries of origin the right to appeal a refugee decision at the RAD. On July 23, 2015, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that this amendment violated Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“As a result of this Federal Court decision, eligible claimants from designated countries of origin now have access to an appeal before the RAD. This applies to refugee decisions that were issued on or after the Federal Court ruling
“The decision to withdraw this appeal is another important step towards fulfilling our commitment to improving our refugee system, and to reviewing our litigation strategy to ensure that it reflects these commitments.”
For further information (media only), please contact:
Media Relations
Communications Branch
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca
Media Relations Central Line
Department of Justice
613-957-4207
Media@justice.gc.ca
Building a stronger Canada: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) strengthens Canada’s economic, social and cultural prosperity, helping ensure Canadian safety and security while managing one of the largest and most generous immigration programs in the world.
