The Courts Service has published the judgment of a High Court judicial review proceeding arising out of a case before the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT), P.O v The Minister for Justice and Law Reform & Anor. The RAT had affirmed the recommendation of the Refugee Applications Commissioner that the applicant should not be declared a refugee.
The applicant based her application on two key issues: first, that the RAT was wrong not to consider an article from the "afrol News" website, which stated that half of Nigeria's women experience domestic violence; and secondly, the applicant argued that the RAT had failed to abide by guidelines issued by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. These guidelines state that when considering the option of internal relocation (within Nigeria), the host state should thoroughly investigate relocation as a realistic option, consider the social and economic conditions of any specific location and identify a specific location to which applicant can relocate.
In dismissing the applicant's first argument, Justice Ryan stated that the article was irrelevant to the applicant's case. In relation to the second argument, Justice Ryan agreed with the RAT's conclusion that relocation was a viable option for the applicant, given the size and population of Nigeria. However in relation to the UNHCR guidance, he stated "I do not take the UNHCR Guidelines, which are extremely helpful to decision makers and to courts in analysing the work of decision makers, to establish a rigid requirement that places on a decision maker in every case where internal relocation is relevant an obligation to explore in great detail the alternative life open to the applicant".
Accordingly, Justice Ryan refused the applicant's application.