1818127 (Refugee)

The applicant sought review of a decision by the Refugee Tribunal concerning a protection visa. The applicant failed to appear at the hearing for the review, leading to the dismissal of their application. The applicant did not subsequently apply for reinstatement of the application within the prescribed 14-day period.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it was required to confirm the dismissal of the application given the applicant's failure to seek reinstatement. The Tribunal was also required to determine whether, in these circumstances, the decision under review was to be taken as affirmed.

The Tribunal reasoned that under its procedural rules, an application dismissed for non-appearance is automatically confirmed if no application for reinstatement is made within 14 days. As this condition was not met by the applicant, the Tribunal was bound to confirm the dismissal. Consequently, the decision under review was taken to be affirmed.

The Tribunal confirmed the decision to dismiss the application.