Thank you.
A mistake in the refugee determination system can cost a life or expose a fellow human being to torture, persecution, arbitrary detention, or even death, hence the absolute necessity of an effective safety net. Under Bill C-31, some refugees will have a safety net by way of an appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division and an administrative stay while they seek leave for judicial review in the Federal Court. But some won't.
While there are clearly issues with how the RAD will work and the impact of unworkable time lines combined with increased detention, the fact that there is at least a mechanism for an appeal is absolutely central, and it's what we need in Canada under the obligations we have under international law and the charter.
An effective appeal on the merits of the claim is a fundamental requirement under international law. It's something that's been recommended repeatedly by UNHCR, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and many others. Bill C-31, while it maintains the RAD, will, however, deprive some groups of refugees of access to the RAD, namely nationals of countries that have been designated as safe by the minister, anyone the minister has designated as an irregular arrival, people who are admitted to Canada under an exception to the safe third country agreement, and those whose claims have been designated as manifestly unfounded by the refugee board. Not only that, but these same refugee claimants will be denied real access to the Federal Court for judicial review. That is, while they still nominally have the right to seek leave for judicial review of the Federal Court, they won't benefit from an administrative stay while the court considers whether or not to look at their case, as they do under the current system.
In most cases, if the minister is successful in speeding up the process, as he intends to, refugees who fail at the refugee board will be deported long before any Federal Court judge lays eyes on a leave application. Further, the jurisprudence of the Federal Court and the Court of Appeal is clear that once a person has been deported, a Federal Court judicial review application in respect of the risk assessment is moot. There's no point in looking at it because the person has already been deported.
This is crucial—this bit of information and this relationship between access to the RAD and access to the Federal Court—because it shows you that contrary to information that the minister has provided, and I apologize for being political, the fact is that in reality there are certain groups of refugees who will have no access to any review of the first-stage decision on their refugee claim.
With the one-year bar on the PRRA and the bar on access to H and C consideration, the reality is that there will be no effective mechanism whatsoever at law to remedy mistakes that have been made by the first decision-maker at the refugee board. That, in my submission, is contrary to fundamental international human rights law. It's also unconscionable. I think that as Canadians, all of us agree that we don't want mistakes made when it comes to refugee determination. We need to make the decision right.
Just to be clear, how much time do I have, Mr. Chair?