Canada Immigration Case law Canada, Rezmuves, IMMIGRATION — Refugee status — Procedure

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IMMIGRATION — Refugee status — Procedure — Trial de novo ordered where file lost — Refugee claimant was Roma citizen of Hungary who alleged fear of persecution by reason of Roma ethnicity — Board found that claimant was not Convention refugee nor was he person in need of protection — Determinative issue was credibility and in alternative, state protection — Claimant applied for judicial review — At commencement of hearing claimant requested that court grant hearing de novo for claimant as Board’s file had been lost and Board had provided recreated certified copy of Tribunal Record which contained Board decision, Board reasons, National Documentation indexed for Hungary and transcription of Board hearing — No Personal Information Form or affidavit were contained in recreated record — Application granted; matter remitted to different panel of Board for redetermination by way of hearing de novo — It is always important to have complete record when deciding judicial review application — In some cases, missing part of record may not be significant — However, in case such as this where credibility was determinative issue, it was necessary to have record which included Personal Information Forms and any filed affidavits