The complainant's sibling was an appellant who was the subject of a deportation order before the Immigration Appeal Division. The member held a hearing to review the complainant's sibling's appeal of the order.
The complainant alleged that the member asked inappropriate questions and did not follow criminal disclosure procedures during the hearing.
The allegations were based on a misunderstanding of the member's role in the hearing. It was part of the member's adjudicative discretion to form and pose questions. The allegations were related to the complainant's lack of understanding that the appellant's former criminal charges and convictions must be discussed, and that inconsistencies must be put to the appellant for explanation during the hearing.
Members of the Immigration and Refugee Board are not required to follow criminal disclosure procedures. It was part of the member's adjudicative decision-making to decide which documents to allow, which documents to provide to the parties, and how much time to allow parties to review documents during a hearing. Therefore, the allegations were not within the scope of the Procedures for Making a Complaint about a Member (the Procedures).
After reviewing the complaint, and consistent with the recommendation of the Ombudsperson, the Chairperson dismissed the complaint under the Procedures because none of the allegations were within scope.
The complaint was dismissed and the file was closed.