The Luck of the Draw? Judicial Review of Refugee Determinations in the Federal Court of Canada (2005-2010)

The Luck of the Draw? Judicial Review of Refugee Determinations in the Federal Court of Canada (2005-2010)

Sean Rehaag of Osgoode Hall has released a paper on outcomes in Federal Court applications for judicial review of refugee determinations, as part of the Osgoode Hall Law School, Comparative Research in Law and Political Economy (CLPE) Research Paper Series.

Access the full text here.

Abstract: This working paper offers an empirical examination of judicial review in Canada’s Federal Court in the refugee law context. Drawing on a dataset of over 23,000 applications for judicial review of refugee determinations from 2005 to 2010, the paper examines whether outcomes in these life-and-death applications turn on their merits, or whether, instead, they hinge on which judge is assigned to decide the application. The paper reveals that outcomes over the past five years frequently came down to the luck of the draw, with, for example, one judge more than 50 times as likely to grant applications than another judge. Based on these findings, the author offers several recommendations for reform to enhance fairness and consistency in this important area of law.