RE DEWI ANGGRAENI AND ANOTHER

CACV 213/2019

[2020] HKCA 109

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

CIVIL APPEAL NO 213 OF 2019

(ON APPEAL FROM HCAL 752/2018)

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JUDGMENT

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Hon Lam VP (giving the Judgment of the Court):

1.  On 9 September 2019, the Court (Lam VP and Bharwaney J) handed down a judgment ([2019] HKCA 1021) dismissing the applicants’ appeal against the decision of Deputy High Court Judge Josiah Lam (“the Judge”) dated 30 April 2019 ([2019] HKCFI 980). In the latter decision, the Judge refused leave for the applicant to apply for judicial review.

2.  By a notice of motion filed on 23 September 2019, the applicants sought leave to appeal against the Court’s judgment to the Court of Final Appeal.  It was stated in the notice that they could not go back to Indonesia because their lives would not be safe there.

3.  Notwithstanding that they were directed to do so, they did not lodge any written submission in support of this application.

4.  In the judgment, the Court explained that it was not the role of the court to assess a non-refoulement claimant’s risk of harm as if it were a primary decision-maker.  The applicants did not engage with the reason of the Court in dismissing the appeal.  Instead, they repeated their attempts to ask this Court to re-assess their claim afresh.  As explained in the judgment of 9 September 2019 this is not a viable course. 

5.  Plainly, the matters stated in the notice of motion cannot constitute valid grounds of appeal.

6.  The applicant failed to raise any question of great general or public importance that merits the submission to the Court of Final Appeal for consideration.  The statutory criteria for granting leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal under section 22(1)(b) of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (Cap 484) are not met.  Nor do we see any reason for leave to be granted under the “or otherwise” limb.  

7.  Accordingly, we dismiss the application for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal.