BILAL MUHAMMAD v. TORTURE CLAIMS APPEAL BOARD / NON-REFOULEMENT CLAIMS PETITION OFFICE

CACV 191/2026, [2026] HKCA 969

On Appeal From [2026] HKCFI 1121

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

CIVIL APPEAL NO. 191 OF 2026

(ON APPEAL FROM HCAL NO. 735 OF 2021)

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J U D G M E N T

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DHCJ Yuen (giving the Judgment of the Court):

1.  This is the Applicant’s appeal against the order of Deputy High Court Judge To (“Judge”) dated 25 February 2026 by which his application for leave to apply for judicial review (“Leave Application”) against the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board (“Board”) dated 8 April 2021 (“Board’s Decision”) was dismissed. By that decision, the Board upheld the decision of the Director of Immigration (“Director”) rejecting the Applicant’s non-refoulement claim.

2.  The Applicant is a national of Pakistan. The basis of his non-refoulement claim had been set out in detail in the Board’s Decision, which may be viewed online via the hyperlink contained in [3] of the CALL-1 Form. In gist, the Applicant claims that if he returns home, he will be harmed or killed by his two uncles and cousins because of a land dispute.

3.  In [12] to [13] of the CALL-1 Form, the Judge gave detailed reasons for refusing the Leave Application.

4.  By a Notice of Appeal filed on 2 March 2026, the Applicant appeals against the Judge’s decision. The Applicant contends:

“I am Disagree with the decision Maker authorities, sir decision Maker give Decision unfair. They not give me Justice. They were Make same decision like torture claims Appeal Board/director of Immigration. Sir my life has still Threating in my Home country. Please Grant my case. I do not Think my case determined Fairly.”

5.  This appeal was scheduled to be heard on 23 April 2026. The Applicant has failed to lodge any skeleton argument in support of his appeal in accordance with the directions given by the Registrar of Civil Appeals on 2 March 2026. Accordingly, the Applicant is deemed to have waived his right to have an oral hearing of the appeal and elected to have the appeal disposed of on paper. Having considered the documents before us, we consider that it is appropriate to deal with the Applicant’s appeal on paper without an oral hearing.

6.  The general approach of this Court in dealing with appeals in non-refoulement cases has been set out in Nupur Mst v Director of Immigration [2018] HKCA 524 at [14]. In particular, in an appeal against refusal of leave to apply for judicial review in non-refoulement cases, this Court would only examine the decision of the judge in light of the grounds advanced by the applicant. If no viable ground is put forward to reverse the judge’s decision, the appeal should be dismissed. This Court’s role is not to examine the Board’s decision afresh as if it is a fresh application for judicial review (see Nupur Mst at [14(6)]).

7.  Further, the assessment of evidence, Country of Origin information, risk of harm, state protection and viability of internal relocation are primarily within the province of the Board and the Director. The Court will not intervene by way of judicial review unless there is an error of law or procedural unfairness or irrationality in the decision of the Board: Re Kartini [2019] HKCA 1022 at [13].

8.  The applicant’s grounds contained in his notice of appeal have no substance as he has failed to identify any error with specific particulars against the Leave Decision. In the premises, his assertions are not valid grounds of appeal.

9.  In the premises, this appeal is dismissed with no order as to costs.