Poland - Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw, 28 June 2012, V SA/Wa 2460/11

Facts:

B.G., a citizen of the Russian Federation, applied for refugee status, citing persecution experienced due to his brother being in prison. The proceedings were dismissed as the foreignor left the country, but when he was transferred back on the basis of the Dublin procedure, the proceedings were restarted. The Office for Foreigners refused to recognise refugee status or grant other forms of protection, and the Polish Council for Refugees also issued a decision that was not in the applicant's favour. The foreignor appealed to the Regional Administrative Court for the decision to be overturned.

Decision & reasoning:

The Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw dismissed the appeal. The Court found that the authorities of both instances had assessed the foreignor's testimony and the documents he had presented very carefully and had comprehensively justified why they found this testimony and evidence unreliable.

Both the Board and the Council concluded that the foreignor left the country not for reasons cited in the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and that he had failed to show that he had been persecuted on such grounds or that he had been forced to leave his country of origin because of fear of such persecution.

With regard to the hearing of evidence, the Court found, amongst other things, that the translations into Polish of documents drawn up in a foreign language that were admissible as evidence in the refugee status proceedings are to be provided where necessary by the authority before which the proceedings are being conducted. It indicated, however, that the authority in question is not obliged to provide translations of all documents submitted by the foreignor but only of those that are relevant to the case and are not supported by other evidence.

The Court also agreed with the view of the Polish Council for Refugees that the foreignor had an internal protection alternative, which means that if there is a part of the country of origin where there are no circumstances justifying the foreignor's fear of persecution or serious harm and it can reasonably be presumed that the foreignor will be able to move there without impediment, it is concluded that there is no well-founded fear of persecution or actual risk of serious harm in the country of origin. The Court also found that if the conditions in one region do not suit the foreignor, he can try to move to another part of the country.

The appeal was therefore dismissed.

Outcome:

The Court dismissed the appeal.

Observations/comments:

In the grounds of its judgment, the Court discussed the admissibility and translation of foreign language documents during the hearing of evidence in refugee status proceedings. It also discussed the question of internal protection alternatives, although it should be stressed that this notion was addressed in very broad terms only.

The content of the judgment is available at the Central Database of Judgments:

http://orzeczenia.nsa.gov.pl/doc/D6A7034314