The complainant was a refugee claimant who appeared before the member at the Refugee Protection Division (RPD).
The complainant was represented by counsel at the RPD hearing.
The complainant alleged that the member’s decision was based on miscommunication between the member and the interpreter and a misunderstanding of the complainant’s testimony during the hearing. The complainant alleged that the member misunderstood the basis of the claim.
The Office of Integrity forwarded the complaint to the Chairperson for a decision on whether the complaint was outside the scope of the complaints process under paragraph 5.5 of the Procedures for Making a Complaint About a Member (Complaints Procedures).
Both parties were informed about the resolution of the complaint. In his decision letter of August 9, 2019, the Chairperson concluded that the allegations were not related to the conduct of the member and therefore fell outside the scope of the Complaints Procedures.
The Chairperson explained in his letter to the complainant that the complaint process is intended to address a member's conduct and not their decision-making. Complaints cannot be about what a member decides in a case.
The complaint was screened out and the file was closed.
Note - This complaint related to the member’s decision. The proper remedy to address this matter is through the appeals process or judicial review at the Federal Court, as the case may be. This approach is based in the legal requirement that members’ adjudicative independence cannot be fettered.