Written by Karl Furtado, JD Candidate and Student Caseworker at CLASP
It’s early morning in Toronto, and I’m sitting in a Federal Court breakout room, waiting for my client’s judicial review hearing to begin. I’m only weeks into my role at CLASP—the Community and Legal Aid Services Program at Osgoode Hall Law School—and the stakes are high.
Our case hinges on a principle established decades ago in Maldonado: that in immigration and refugee proceedings, a claimant’s sworn evidence should generally be accepted as truthful unless there is reason to doubt it. This principle has been cited in numerous Federal Court decisions and remains central to credibility assessments. For our client, whose claim involves multiple grounds of persecution—including ethnicity, sexual orientation, and religious conversion—this principle is critical to establishing credibility in court.
As I reviewed my materials, I pulled up the original Maldonado decision. It was decided in 1980 by the Federal Court in Toronto. The solicitor for the applicant? Paula Knopf (LLB ’75), then counsel for CLASP. At that moment, I realized the principle that could decide my client’s case had originated in the very clinic where I now work.
I sent Ms. Knopf a note to share the connection. She replied:
“It was an honour to work for CLASP. The law can do good things for good people… We helped mentor a fine group of young lawyers who had a quest for justice and a desire to practice with integrity.”
When review counsel began submissions, he noted to the judge:
“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but the Maldonado principle was established in a case argued by CLASP.”
Justice Grant responded, “Of course. It’s probably CLASP’s single greatest contribution to the legal world.”
The hearing concluded with a decision in our client’s favour. Maldonado had not only influenced refugee law but had also shaped the work of generations of lawyers committed to justice.
CLASP’s work demonstrates that student legal clinics do more than teach law; they contribute to precedent and provide practical support in complex cases. For me, this was more than a successful hearing—it was a story coming full circle, connecting decades of CLASP’s work to the present day.