Case Law

Heard at Glasgow (Eagle Building) on 7 May 2008. The guidance in SM and Others (Kurds - Protection - Relocation) Iraq CG [2005] UKIAT 00111 regarding relocation of a Kurd from the KRG to central or southern Iraq is confirmed.

15 December 2008 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Asylum and Immigration Tribunal / Immigration Appellate Authority | Topic(s): Blood feuds - Complementary forms of protection - Country of origin information (COI) - Criminal justice - Evidence (including age and language assessments / medico-legal reports) - Freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment - Honour killings - Internal flight alternative (IFA) / Internal relocation alternative (IRA) / Internal protection alternative (IPA) - Kurd | Countries: Iraq - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Application for judicial review.

27 November 2008 | Judicial Body: Canada: Federal Court | Topic(s): Kurd - Persecution based on political opinion - Political parties - Racial / Ethnic persecution | Countries: Canada - Turkey

17 November 2008 | Judicial Body: Italy: Italian Supreme Court (Corte Suprema di Cassazione) | Topic(s): Burden of proof - EU Qualification Directive - Kurd - Regional instruments - Shia | Countries: Iraq - Italy

On appeal from the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT No: AA/08388/2007).

11 November 2008 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Court of Appeal (England and Wales) | Topic(s): Arbitrary arrest and detention - Credibility assessment - Evidence (including age and language assessments / medico-legal reports) - Kurd - Persecution based on political opinion | Countries: Iran, Islamic Republic of - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Appeal by the Secretary of State for the Home Department.

8 October 2008 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Court of Appeal (England and Wales) | Topic(s): Country of origin information (COI) - Evidence (including age and language assessments / medico-legal reports) - Kurd - Persecution based on political opinion | Countries: Turkey - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Application for judicial review.

24 September 2008 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: High Court (England and Wales) | Topic(s): Arbitrary arrest and detention - Criminal justice - Evidence (including age and language assessments / medico-legal reports) - Exhaustion of domestic remedies - Freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment - Kurd - Persecution based on political opinion | Countries: Turkey - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

An application pursuant to s129L of the Immigration Act 1987 to cease to recognise a person as a refugee.

23 September 2008 | Judicial Body: New Zealand: Refugee Status Appeals Authority | Topic(s): Cessation clauses - Evidence (including age and language assessments / medico-legal reports) - Kurd - Passports - Persecution based on political opinion | Countries: New Zealand - Turkey

Cet arrêt deviendra définitif dans les conditions définies à l'article 44 § 2 de la Convention. Il peut subir des retouches de forme.

23 September 2008 | Judicial Body: Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights | Topic(s): Criminal justice - Freedom of expression - Kurd - Prosecution vs persecution - Right to justice | Countries: Turkey

Application for judicial review.

22 September 2008 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: High Court (England and Wales) | Topic(s): Complementary forms of protection - Criminal justice - Kurd - Muslim - Persecution based on political opinion - Political parties - Racial / Ethnic persecution - Religious persecution (including forced conversion) - Social group persecution | Countries: Turkey - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The Refugee Status Appeals Authority reaffirmed in this decision New Zealand jurisprudence on the internal protection alternative, holding that even were it free to do so, it would not follow the decisions of the House of Lords in Januzi v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2006] 2 AC 426 and AH (Sudan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2007] 3 WLR 832 which facilitate the withholding of recognition of refugee status. The Authority emphasized that such withholding of recognition can only occur in a highly limited class of case where (a) the proposed internal protection alternative is accessible to the individual. This requires that the access be practical, safe and legal; (b) in the proposed site of internal protection there is no risk of being persecuted for a Convention reason; (c) in the proposed site of internal protection there are no new risks of being persecuted or of being exposed to other forms of serious harm or of refoulement; and finally, (d) in the proposed site of internal protection basic norms of civil, political and socio-economic rights will be provided by the State. The Authority has also declined to follow the two recent decisions of the High Court of Australia in SZATV v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship (2007) 237 ALR 634 and SZFDV v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship (2007) 237 ALR 660. In these two decisions the "protection" element of the refugee definition in Article 1A(2) was interpreted as "diplomatic protection".

In this decision, addressing honour killings in Turkey, the Authority also held that the political opinion ground was the most appropriate Convention ground on which the claim succeeded. The Authority has made important observations about gender in the context of the political opinion ground and the need for that ground to receive a gender-sensitive interpretation. It concluded that "honour" enforces rigid control by men over women and their sexuality. It is about policing community norms and codes of behaviour, collective decisions and acts of punishment. Ultimately, it is about the distribution and exercise of power in Turkish society. The observance of honour reflects the gendered inequality of power in that society. In the specific context the Authority was satisfied that the claimant's assertion of her right to life and of her right to control her life and her challenge to inequality and the structures of power which support it, was plainly "political" as that term is used in the Refugee Convention.

11 September 2008 | Judicial Body: New Zealand: Refugee Status Appeals Authority | Topic(s): Blood feuds - Country of origin information (COI) - Internal flight alternative (IFA) / Internal relocation alternative (IRA) / Internal protection alternative (IPA) - Kurd - Persecution based on political opinion - Social group persecution - State protection - Well-founded fear of persecution | Countries: New Zealand - Turkey