About RefLex

1. What is RefLex?
2. Purpose of RefLex
3. Selection Criteria
   • General Principles
   • Specific Criteria
4. Editorial Control
5. Distribution

1. INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS REFLEX?

1.1 RefLex is Legal Services' publication of digests of recent immigration and refugee protection decisions. It contains digests of decisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada's (IRB) Refugee Protection Division (formerly known as the Convention Refugee Determination Division), Immigration Appeal Division, and Immigration Division (formerly known as the Adjudication Division). Issues 1 to 82 of RefLex also include digests of decisions rendered by the Federal Court of Canada.

1.2 The digests are short summaries or synopses of the reasons for decision, with the major issues set out in keywords. The digests contain the pertinent facts of the case and the conclusions of the decision-makers. They do not however, provide any legal analysis of, or comment on, the reasons, nor do they represent the views of Legal Services.

2. PURPOSE OF REFLEX

2.1 RefLex is an internal communications tool for the IRB's decision-makers and staff. Even though the publication is also available to the general public outside of the IRB, RefLex is focused on meeting the specific needs of its principal audience, the IRB's decision-makers and staff. In order to provide this information in a timely manner, each issue of RefLex contains decisions dated no more than approximately eight weeks prior to the date of publication.

2.2 What are the objectives of RefLex?

• to disseminate information on immigration and refugee protection to decision-makers and staff;
• to inform decision-makers of decisions rendered by their colleagues across the country, which may be of assistance to them and which may be referred to in their own reasons; this will further the goal of consistency in IRB jurisprudence;
• to create a bank of jurisprudence to facilitate legal research; and
• to foster a better understanding of IRB jurisprudence.

3. SELECTION CRITERIA

General Principles

3.1 Since digests of decisions do not represent the views of Legal Services, the fact that a decision has been digested in RefLex does not necessarily mean that it has been endorsed by Legal Services as being correct in law; a decision which sets out an arguable or defensible position may appear in RefLex, regardless of Legal Services’ views on the matter. However, RefLex does not contain digests of decisions which, in the opinion of Legal Services, are incorrect in law.

3.2 Also, the fact that a decision is digested in RefLex does not necessarily mean that the decision is of national significance for the IRB, although certainly some of the IRB decisions which appear in RefLex are of such a nature.

3.3 RefLex also attempts as much as possible to contain a balance of positive and negative decisions of the Refugee Protection Division, so as to make the positive decisions jurisprudence more readily accessible to decision-makers and staff.

Specific Criteria

3.4 Keeping these general principles in mind, the following guidelines are applied in determining whether a decision rendered by one of the Board’s division should be selected for RefLex, on an issue of either substantive law, evidence or procedure:

• The reasons set out a novel approach to the law.
  The approach may be novel because the decision-maker has, for example: (i) expanded Canadian jurisprudence by following the jurisprudence of another jurisdiction, or by following a line of reasoning found in a text or document; (ii) addressed a creative argument made by counsel: (iii) suggested a new approach to the definition of "protected person" in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; (iv) taken a new approach to an issue of statutory interpretation; (v) taken a new approach to the interpretation of a general immigration or refugee protection principle; or (vi) distinguished a previous decision.
• The reasons set out the law in a clear and concise manner.
  The decision-maker may have written a strong set of reasons on a particular point of law. The reasons are thorough and soundly written, and may be particularly insightful. The decision-maker may have reviewed the jurisprudence, and then applied that jurisprudence to the particular facts of the case within a well-reasoned and complete legal analysis.
• The reasons demonstrate the application of an established legal principle to an unusual or novel fact situation.
  The particular facts of the case may be, in and of themselves, novel, in terms of the existing fact profiles of IRB cases.
• The reasons are representative of a number of decisions decided on a specific issue from a particular country, or are representative of a number of decisions decided in a particular region of the IRB.
  RefLex may include the "usual" or "typical" decisions from a particular region of the IRB, either in terms of fact situations, legal issues, or approaches to issues by decision-makers. In this way, the varying approaches to a given issue by decision-makers in different regions of the IRB may be shown.

4. EDITORIAL CONTROL

4.1 Individual legal advisers in each region recommend the selection of decisions for inclusion in RefLex. Assistant Deputy Chairpersons, Coordinating Members and members of the Immigration Division may also recommend the selection of certain decisions, either at the request of individual decision-makers or on their own initiative. A designated legal adviser in each region carries out the final selection of decisions from that region.

5. DISTRIBUTION

5.1 RefLex is distributed by e-mail every two weeks to members, legal advisers, refugee protection officers and regional Documentation Centres. It is also made available to everyone at the Board on the IRB's Intranet site. However, RefLex is distributed once a month at two times of year.

5.2 RefLex is also available to members of the bar and the general public through regional Documentation Centres and limited e-mail distribution. RefLex is also available on the IRB's website (www.irb-cisr.gc.ca).

Revised June 2002