LN Court of Appeal CO/2009/1283
LN Court of Appeal CO/2009/1283
Court Of Appeal Case
Criminal
LN was a Zimbabwean who fled here after Zanu thugs raped her and killed her sister. Her reconsideration hearing took place shortly before RN was promulgated. At the hearing the Home Office produced an 'ASU Cal Note' - a short computer note of a conversation wioth LN on the morning of her screening interview - which the Home Office alleged contained discrepancies with all her subsequent, and consistent evidence. Neither the Note nor the alleged discrepancies had ever been raised by the Home Office, at any point in her screening interview, full interview, refusal letter, or first appeal hearing. The Court did not hold that the Immigration Judge had erred in admitting the Note (which he wrongly called a "pre-claim statement") but did hold that he had given it too much weight and that he had erred in dismissing LN's sister's death certificate accordingly. The Court noted that LN had struggled in answering questions about the 'Call Note' - this was "perhaps unsurprising...she had not seen it before, it was presented for the first time at the hearing, a document that was prepared when she wasn't meant to be giving details, and she was cross examined on something it didn't say..." The Judge obtained RN after the hearing and added a short postscript, in which he found that it did not alter his decision. Having held that the Judge had erred in credibility, the Court did not need to make any findings on this.