RE KHAN MUSHTAQ

CAMP 5/2021

[2022] HKCA 38

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

MISCELLANEOUS PROCEEDINGS NO 5 OF 2021

(ON AN INTENDED APPEAL FROM HCAL 476/2019)

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J U D G M E N T

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Hon Barma JA (giving the Judgment of the Court):

1.  On 30 July 2021, this court (Poon CJHC and Barma JA) handed down a judgment dismissing the applicant’s application for extension of time to appeal against the decision of Deputy High Court Judge KW Lung (“the judge”) on 12 May 2020 refusing to grant extension of time for the applicant’s application for leave for judicial review and dismissing his application for leave to apply for judicial review. The applicant had sought to review the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board (“the Board”) dismissing his appeal from the decisions of the Director of Immigration rejecting his non‑refoulement claim.

2.  The facts and issues in the application, as well as the court’s reasons for dismissing it, are set out in our judgment.[1] We will not repeat them here.

3.  The applicant subsequently applied, by a Notice of Motion filed on 10 August 2021, for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal.  The applicant stated in the Notice of Motion that:

“The [Director] and the [Board] rejected my claim. The High Court and the Court of Appeal dismissed my leave to apply for judicial review. I want go to the Court of Final Appeal.”

4.  The applicant failed to comply with Practice Direction 2.1 and did not lodge the skeleton submission within time.  The applicant was therefore debarred from lodging any written submissions and the application was dealt with on paper on the basis of the materials already filed before the court.

5.  Having considered the applicant’s Notice of Motion, we see no reason to depart from the usual practice of determining an application of this kind on the papers. We have, therefore, determined the applicant’s application on the basis of the documents filed.

6.  The matters stated by the applicant do not constitute grounds for granting leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal.  The applicant has failed to identify any question of great general or public importance for the Court of Final Appeal to determine, as required by section 22(1)(b) of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance, Cap 484.  Nor is any such question apparent to us from the matters he has raised.  

7.  The Notice of Motion does not identify any supposed error in our judgment and it raises no ground that is reasonably arguable before the Court of Final Appeal.

8.  We also do not see any basis for granting leave on the “otherwise” limb under section 22(1)(b).

9.  For these reasons, the Notice of Motion dated 10 August 2021 is dismissed.