Azcoitia Martinez v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2005 FC 14

Date: 20050111

Docket: IMM-2567-04

Citation: 2005 FC 14

Montréal, Quebec, the 11th day of January 2005

Present: The Honourable Mr. Justice Lemieux

BETWEEN:

ANA LAURA AZCOITIA MARTINEZ

ADRAN GONZALO PEREZ AZCOITIA

Applicants

and

THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP

AND IMMIGRATION

Respondent

REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER

[1]        By a decision with reasons on February 2, 2004, the Refugee Protection Division (the panel) refused to grant refugee status to Ana Laura Azcoitia Martinez (the applicant), a citizen of Uruguay, and her son Adran.

[2]        The applicant said she had a fear of her former de facto spouse, whom she lived with between January 1998 and March 14, 2002. She said he first beat her once a week and then it [TRANSLATION] "escalated, fuelled by liquor and jealousy, to a daily occurence".

[3]        The panel did not believe the violence the applicant claimed to have suffered from her former de facto spouse, and as in the circumstances this was the basis of her refugee claim and that of her son [TRANSLATION] "considered that her testimony as a whole was not credible".

[4]        The panel found the applicant not credible for three reasons:

            (1)        she had lived at the same place since March 14, 2002, that is near the dwellings where her brother and mother lived [TRANSLATION] "even after her former spouse had threatened to kill her, hit her and tried to abduct her in February 2003";

            (2)        the lack of any effort to obtain documentary corroboration of her complaints at the police station; and

            (3)        although the applicant knew of the services offered by the Uruguayan authorities, she testified she did not make use of them.

[5]        The courts have held that the panel has full jurisdiction to assess the plausibility of testimony and to weigh the credibility of a story, taking into account the evidence on which it relied in the case.

[6]        In the circumstances, the panel's finding is neither perverse nor capricious and is supported by the evidence.

[7]        The Court was not persuaded by counsel for the applicant's argument. Essentially, that argument did not shift or challenge the panel's central finding - that the story given by the principal claimant was not credible. I would add that the panel's decision was not based on lack of government protection for women victims of conjugal violence.

ORDER

This application for judicial review is dismissed. No question was submitted for certification.

Certified true translation

K. Harvey

                                                             FEDERAL COURT

                                                      SOLICITORS OF RECORD

DOCKET:                                                 IMM-2567-04

STYLE OF CAUSE:                                 ANA LAURA AZCOITIA MARTINEZ

ADRAN GONZALO PEREZ AZCOITIA

Applicants

and

THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION

Respondent

PLACE OF HEARING:                           Montréal, Quebec

DATE OF HEARING:                             January 10, 2005

REASONS FOR ORDER                        THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE LEMIEUX

AND ORDER BY:

DATED:                                                    January 11, 2005

APPEARANCES:

Anthony Karkar                                                            FOR THE APPLICANTS

Lynne Lazaroff                                                              FOR THE RESPONDENT

SOLICITORS OF RECORD:

Anthony Karkar                                                            FOR THE APPLICANTS

Montréal, Quebec

John H. Sims                                                                 FOR THE RESPONDENT

Deputy Attorney General of Canada

Montréal, Quebec