Case No. 21-020

​The complainant was the designated representative for a refugee claimant before the Refugee Protection Division.

The complainant alleged, based on the member’s choice of words when summarizing a document as part of a new evidence assessment, that the member received a translation of the document and did not disclose this document to the claimant.

In this case, the complainant was taking issue with the way that the member summarized a piece of evidence in their decision. The complaint relates to the member’s decision-making and exercise of adjudicative discretion and not the member’s conduct.

Consistent with the recommendation of the Office of the Ombudsperson, the Chairperson decided that this complaint relates to the exercise of adjudicative discretion and not to the member’s conduct. As per section 3 of the Procedures for Making a Complaint about a Member, complaints related to the exercise of the member’s adjudicative discretion are not investigated. Members are independent decision-makers; therefore, their adjudicative independence must be unfettered. The appropriate forum for concerns about adjudicative discretion is the associated appeals division or the Federal Court.

The complaint was dismissed, and the file was closed.