Date: 19980716
Docket: IMM-4241-97
BETWEEN:
VALERY VERKOVODOV,
Applicant,
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION,
Respondent.
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
CAMPBELL, J.
[1] At pages 4 and 5 of the panel's decision, the following paragraphs appear:
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"As well, the panel is conscious of the fact that the claimant has open to him the possibility of securing Russian citizenship through registration. He was, of course, under no onus to secure recognition of Russian nationality because the evidence suggests that Russian citizenship would not automatically have been conferred upon him -- he needed to move to Russia, become resident there, and to register to obtain such status. At the same time, in assessing the well-foundedness of his claim and his need to seek the extraordinary protection afforded by the international community, it is legitimate for the panel to consider his reasons for failing to enlist the protection of the Russian state. After all, his fears had their centre in his Russian ethnicity, his business took him in and out of Russia at regular intervals, and his sister was then resident as a Russian national in St. Petersburg. Seeking Russian citizenship in the circumstances would seem a natural, perhaps the most natural recourse, open to a person operating out of daily fear for his life, and who was effectively moving around Russia to earn a living while hiding from the Ukrainian Mafia. |
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When the claimant was asked why he did not pursue his option to secure Russian nationality, he said that when they inquired, he and his father were told they could only stay on a temporary basis and could not register as Russian nationals under Article 18 of the Russian Federation Citizenship Act, because they did not have a residence in Russia. |
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I do not question the veracity of this comment but it is evident to me that the claimant chose not to pursue the matter with any degree of alacrity, drive, or focus. Plainly, the claimant's sister could have assisted in the process by aiding the claimant to secure an address (the claimant said she could not because she was an impecunious student at the time -- an argument that is less than compelling if the claimant truly was in fear of his life). The panel suspects that the claimant's distaste for doing his military service in the Ukraine extends to a desire to avoid a similar obligation that would arise through acquisition of Russian nationality, and that for this reason, he declined to pursue the possibility of acquiring Russian citizenship. |
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Finally, the panel also noted that the claimant had a propensity to reach conclusions about situations or events on a thin and sometimes inadequate evidentiary base. For this reason, the panel could not always accept the inferences and conclusions the claimant drew from his experiences even when the facts of the experiences were not in dispute. |
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[2] The above quotation reflects an expectation place by the panel on the claimant. That is, for the claimant's Russian ethnicity fear is to be given weight, the panel expected the claimant to claim Russian citizenship. The belief by the panel that the claimant's sister was in Russia at the time concerned played heavily in the creation of this expectation.
[3] In fact, it is agreed that the sister was not in Russia at the time concerned thus an err in fact was made. The question is whether this err in fact constitutes a reviewable error. I find that it does because the claimant's failure to meet the expectation created a negative finding about the claimant's character, which I find wrongly contributed to the negative finding of the claimant's credibility.
[4] Accordingly under section 18.1(4)(d) of the Federal Court Act, I set this decision aside and refer the matter back to a differently constituted panel for redetermination.
(Sgd.) "Douglas Campbell"
Judge
Vancouver, British Columbia
July 16, 1998
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
COURT NO.: IMM-4241-97
STYLE OF CAUSE: Valery Verkovodov
| The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration |
| PLACE OF HEARING: Vancouver, BC |
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER OF THE COURT BY:
CAMPBELL, J.
APPEARANCES:
| Benjamin Dolin for Applicant |
| Mitchell Taylor for Respondent |
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
| Benjamin Dolin for Applicant |
| Morris Rosenberg for Respondent |
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
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