'The Ring of Truth': A Case Study of Credibility Assessment in Particular Social Group Refugee Determinations

Credibility assessment has always been a major issue in refugeedeterminations and its importance increases in the context ofwidespread introduction of ‘fast-track’ processesand the manifest trans-national trend to truncate (or indeedremove) avenues for review. This article explores the practiceof credibility assessment in lower level tribunals using a casestudy of over 1000 particular social group (PSG) ground decisionsmade on the basis of sexual orientation over the past fifteenyears. Credibility played an increasingly major role in claimrefusals, and negative credibility assessments were not alwaysbased on well-reasoned or defensible grounds. The article usesthis specific case study in order to found recommendations forstructural and institutional change aimed at improving moregenerally the credibility assessment process in refugee determinations.