Refugee Appeal Division (RAD)
Statutory definition
Section 110 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c 27, gives a person or the Minister of Public Safety the right to appeal an RPD decision to the RAD. Section 111 provides that the RAD may confirm the determination of the RPD, set it aside and substitute its own determination, or refer the matter to the RPD for redetermination.
Explanation
The Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) provides appellate review of RPD decisions. The appeal is primarily paper-based — the RAD reviews the RPD record and any new evidence without holding an oral hearing in most cases. Oral hearings may be ordered where the RAD determines that a hearing is required.
New evidence may be admitted at the RAD stage only if it arose after the RPD decision, was not reasonably available at the time of the RPD hearing, or the applicant could not reasonably have been expected to present it before. This restriction limits the RAD to a review of the RPD record plus limited new evidence.
How this term is used
Not all claimants have a right of appeal to the RAD. Designated foreign nationals, persons whose claims were rejected as manifestly unfounded or no credible basis, and persons whose claims were declared abandoned or withdrawn generally do not have RAD appeal rights. For those without RAD rights, judicial review in the Federal Court is the next step after a negative RPD decision.