De Leon v. Canada ( Minister of Citizenship and Immigration )
IMM-2721-95
Heald D.J.
16/12/96
6 pp.
Application for judicial review of Post-claim Determination Officer's (PCDO) determination applicants not members of Postdetermination Refugee Claimants in Canada Class (PDRCC)-Applicants common law spouses from Guatemala-Denied Convention refugee status-Application for leave to commence application for judicial review dismissed-Applicants allege would face risk to life, inhumane treatment and severe sanctions at hand of guerrillas-Applicants argue PDRCC class not part of humanitarian and compassionate considerations found in Act, s. 114(2) and decisions made relating to PDRCC class therefore subject to higher standard of review; PCDO misinterpreted or ignored evidence-Application dismissed-Court should not set aside discretionary decisions by PCDO unless such discretion shown to have been exercised pursuant to improper purposes, irrelevant considerations, with bad faith or in patently unreasonable manner-Record showing none of above-PCDO did not rely on documentary evidence not disclosed to applicants-No extrinsic evidence relied on by PCDO apart from objective documentary evidence concerning conditions in Guatemala, as allowed-Question certified: Whether Immigration Officer conducting review pursuant to PDRCC regulations violates principles of fairness as enunciated by Federal Court of Appeal in Shah v. Minister of Employment and Immigration (1994), 170 N.R. 238 (F.C.A.), when considers documentary evidence about general country conditions not contained in applicant's immigration file without advising applicant of intention to do so, and without providing applicant opportunity to respond to same-Immigration Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. I-2, s. 114(2) (as am. by S.C. 1992, c. 49, s. 102).