Judicial Review & Appeals

Judicial Review
If you have been refused Canadian citizenship, or your application to reside in Canada was refused, you can apply to the court to seek a judicial review of the decision made. A lawyer must be appointed to apply for judicial review on your behalf. There are certain deadlines that need to be met if you are planning on applying for a judicial review, Usually, you are required to file for a review within 15 days since you got your refusal.

A judicial review is a two-step process:

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1. Leave Stage: This is the first stage, where the court reviews all the documents related to your case. At this stage, you need to try and prove to the federal court that the decision made was not fair, or reasonable and that there was an error. You will need to submit all documents supporting that claim. Based on the above factors, the court will either decide to grant you a ‘leave’ or dismiss the case. “Leave’ means that the court has agreed to examine the decision further in detail or permission to have a matter heard by the Court at an oral hearing.

2. Application for Judicial Review Stage: At the ‘application for judicial review’ stage, you with your lawyer can attend a hearing at the court and provide an explanation on why you believe that the original decision was wrong or why it needs to be amended. For matters pertaining to the decisions made by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB); a request for review by the Federal Court automatically puts a removal order on hold, and you can stay in Canada until the Court makes its decision. However, if the court finds that there was no error in the decision of your case, you are put on a removal order and you must leave Canada within 30 days.

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Appeal

Wrongful refusals may be appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) when and if the federal court judge certifies that a serious question of general importance is involved and states the question. A serious question of general importance arises when the court finds an issue that transcends the interests of the parties and contemplates issues of broad significance or of general application, and that is also dispositive of the case within its jurisdiction.

An appeal can also be made to the Supreme Court of Canada if the case raises an issue of public importance. The appellant must file the notice of application for leave to appeal with the registrar of the Supreme Court within 60 days after the date of the final judgment appealed.

You can hire CWC Immigration, as your trusted representative in the court of law. CWC has vast experience in dealing with refusals and appeals.

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