The applicants, Georgian citizens of Ossetian minority ethnicity, sought judicial review of a Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) decision upholding the rejection of their refugee claims.
The RPD and RAD found the applicants credible but held they failed to rebut the presumption of state protection and did not establish cumulative persecution.
The Federal Court found the RAD's decision unreasonable.
The Court held the RAD failed to properly consider country condition evidence regarding the police's unwillingness to act and the operational adequacy of the Public Defender's Office.
Additionally, the RAD misapplied the test for cumulative discrimination amounting to persecution by characterizing the principal applicant's experiences as personal beliefs and ignoring their cumulative nature.
