The complainant in this matter is counsel for an individual who appeared before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada's (IRB) Refugee Protection Division (RPD). The complaint was received by the Assistant Deputy Chairperson of the RPD and was referred to the IRB Office of Integrity for consideration and action under the IRB's Procedures for Making a Complaint about a Member (the Procedures).
The complaint expressed concerns about bias, procedural fairness, professionalism and inappropriate conduct on the part of the member. Allegations related to bias, members' decisions and other adjudicative matters fall outside the scope of the Procedures. The investigation focused only on allegations related to the conduct of the member.
The investigation, including a full review of the audio recording, found that the member's behavior and conduct in his interactions with both counsel and the claimant were not in breach of the Code of Conduct for Members of the IRB. Although it was noted that the member could have handled a particular aspect of the hearing differently, it was determined that there was no breach of the Code of Conduct on the part of the member.