Date: 20060124

                                                                                                                      Docket: IMM-2879-05

                                                                                                                          Citation: 2006 FC 36

BETWEEN:

                                             YOHANNY ANTONIA JIMENEZ GIL

                                                                                                                                            Applicant

                                                                         - and -

                                                    MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP

                                                          AND IMMIGRATION

                                                                                                                                        Respondent

                                                        REASONS FOR ORDER

PINARD J.

[1]        This is an application for judicial review of a decision by the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (the IRB) dated April 12, 2005, that the applicant is not a Convention refugee or a “person in need of protection” as defined in sections 96 and 97, respectively, of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c.27.

[2]        Yohanny Antonia Jimenez Gil (the applicant) is a citizen of the Dominican Republic. She alleges that she fears returning to her native country on the basis that she was a victim of domestic violence from her ex-husband, Ramon Perez.

[3]        The IRB did not find the applicant credible. After hearing the parties’ counsel and reviewing the record, I am not persuaded that the IRB based its decision on an erroneous finding of fact that it made in a perverse or capricious manner or without regard for the material before it (paragraph 18.1(4)(d) of the Federal Courts Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. F-7). In my opinion, this specialized tribunal’s inferences could reasonably have been drawn (see Aguebor v. Canada (M.E.I.) (1993), 160 N.R. 315 (F.C.A.)).

[4]        I consider moreover that the IRB could reasonably determine that the applicant had not rebutted the general presumption that the State is able to provide protection to its citizens. The applicant did not in fact adduce the necessary clear and convincing evidence that the Dominican Republic was unable to protect her (see Ward v. Canada, [1993] 2 S.C.R. 689).

[5]        The applicant submits that she had called the police, but that the police took an hour to arrive at the scene of the alleged spousal conflict. This does not in any way establish that the State is unable to protect her. To the contrary, this indicates that the police authorities did respond to the applicant’s telephone call, even though it was not as soon as she would have liked.

[6]        Finally, the applicant did not file any report or complaint against her spouse in the Dominican Republic and she did not provide any evidence establishing that it was useless for her to seek that State’s protection.

[7]        For all of these reasons, the application for judicial review is dismissed.

             “Yvon Pinard”

Judge         

Certified true translation

Kelley A. Harvey, BCL, LLB

OTTAWA, ONTARIO

January 24, 2006

                                                               FEDERAL COURT

                                                       SOLICITORS OF RECORD

DOCKET:                                                       IMM-2879-05

STYLE OF CAUSE:                                        YOHANNY ANTONIA JIMENEZ GIL v. MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION

PLACE OF HEARING:                                   Montréal, Quebec

DATE OF HEARING:                         December 6, 2005

REASONS FOR ORDER:                               Pinard J.

DATE OF REASONS:                                    January 24, 2006         

APPEARANCES:

Oscar Fernando Rodas                         FOR THE APPLICANT

Simone Truong                                     FOR THE RESPONDENT

SOLICITORS OF RECORD:

Oscar Fernando Rodas                         FOR THE APPLICANT

Montréal, Quebec

John H. Sims, Q.C.                                          FOR THE RESPONDENT

Deputy Attorney General of Canada