Belgium - Council for Alien Law Litigation, 21 March 2013, No. 99380
Keywords:
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Benefit of doubt
Description
The advantage derived from doubt about guilt, a possible error, or the weight of evidence. “When statements are not susceptible of proof, even with independent research, if the applicant's account appears credible, he should, unless there are good reasons to the contrary, be given the benefit of the doubt. The requirement of evidence should thus not be too strictly applied in view of the difficulty of proof inherent in the special situation in which an applicant for refugee status finds himself. Allowance for such possible lack of evidence does not, however, mean that unsupported statements must necessarily be accepted as true if they are inconsistent with the general account put forward by the applicant." |
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Credibility assessment
Description
Assessment made in adjudicating an application for a visa, or other immigration status, in order to determine whether the information presented by the applicant is consistent and credible. |
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Medical Reports/Medico-legal Reports
Description
“Expert medical report used as evidence relevant to the application for international protection. Where psychological elements are relevant, the medical report should provide information on the nature and degree of mental illness and should assess the applicant's ability to fulfil the requirements normally expected of an applicant in presenting his case. The conclusions of the medical report will determine the examiner's further approach.” |
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Standard of proof
Description
The degree or level of persuasiveness of the evidence required in a specific case. For example, in the refugee context, ‘well-founded’ is a standard of proof when assessing the fear of persecution. |
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Gender Based Persecution
Description
‘Gender-related persecution’ is used to encompass the range of different claims in which gender is a relevant consideration in the determination of refugee status. Gender refers to the relationship between women and men based on socially or culturally constructed and defined identities, status, roles and responsibilities that are assigned to one sex or another. Gender is not static or innate but acquires socially and culturally constructed meaning over time. Gender-related claims may be brought by either women or men, although due to particular types of persecution, they are more commonly brought by women. Gender-related claims have typically encompassed, although are by no means limited to, acts of sexual violence, family/domestic violence, coerced family planning, female genital mutilation, punishment for transgression of social mores, and discrimination against homosexuals." |
Headnote:
The judgment recognised the refugee status of a Guinean Applicant who had been the victim of a forced marriage and domestic violence. Various elements, in particular psychological evidence, explained lack of precision in her account.
Facts:
The Applicant, of Guinean nationality, fled her violent husband to whom she had been forcibly married.
The CGRS (Office of the Commissioner-General for Refugees and Stateless Persons rejected the Applicant’s claim for asylum and subsidiary protection on the grounds of an absence of documentary evidence of the existence of the marriage and lack of precision in the Applicant’s account.
Decision & reasoning:
The judge criticised the CGRS for not taking into account the medical evidence filed by the Applicant, which attested to her psychological fragility.
He then held that, if the Applicant’s account was lacking in precision, this was because the CGRS had not asked her precise questions.
He also noted that the Applicant had supplied valid explanations for the inconsistencies criticised by the CGRS. She had thus explained why her marriage had not been registered by the Guinean authorities and produced written confirmation from her lawyer in Guinea of the domestic violence report she had filed against her husband.
Finally, the judge emphasised that the CGRS had to take account of the prevailing cultural situation in Guinea.
The judge concluded that, although there were ‘grey areas’, there was a ‘body of corroborating elements’ to establish a well-founded fear on the part of the Applicant. He reiterated that credibility assessment must not overshadow examination of whether the fear is well-founded and recognised the Applicant’s refugee status.
Outcome:
Refugee status recognised.
Observations/comments:
This judgment illustrates the taking into account by the CCE of psychological evidence (held similarly: CCE, arrêt n° 103.611 of 28-05-2013; held to the contrary: CCE, arrêt n° 102.142 of 30-04-2013).
Relevant International and European Legislation:
Cited Cases:
| Cited Cases |
| ECtHR - R.C. v Sweden, Application No. 41827/07 |