An applicant who claims to fear persecution may have a subjective fear. However, in order to be a refugee, that fear must be objectively justified. If an applicant does not adduce evidence to support the existence of objective fear, or if a protection decision-maker is unable to find such evidence, an applicant will likely not be held to be a refugee, particularly if such evidence may be reasonably be expected to exist.

Where an asylum applicant claims to have carried out so-called “political” crimes, in assessing whether he is fleeing prosecution or persecution, it is necessary to consider whether or not the criminal activity carried out by the applicant bears any relationship to the political aim sought to be achieved by the activity. In assessing this, regard may usefully be had to such matters as the UNHCR Handbook and the principles informing the legal definition of the “political exception” as defined by domestic law in the area of extradition.