LEE FLOWER JOY ESTEVA AND ANOTHER v. TORTURE CLAIMS APPEAL BOARD / NON-REFOULEMENT CLAIMS PETITION OFFICE

CACV 1066/2025, [2026] HKCA 1520
                                            On Appeal From [2025] HKCFI 5405


IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

                   HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

                        CIVIL APPEAL NO 1066 OF 2025
(ON APPEAL FROM HCAL NO 3499 OF 2019)

__________________________

BETWEEN


|          |Lee Flower Joy Esteva                  |1st Applicant   |
|          |Sevillano Joebert Jr Lee               |2nd Applicant   |
|          |and                                    |                |
|          |TORTURE CLAIMS APPEAL BOARD/           |Putative        |
|          |NON-REFOULEMENT CLAIMS PETITION OFFICE |Respondent      |
|          |and                                    |                |
|          |DIRECTOR OF IMMIGRATION                |Putative        |
|          |                                       |Interested Party|


__________________________





Before:  Hon Barma JA and Mimmie Chan J in Court


Date of Judgment:  14 September 2026


                              ________________

                               J U D G M E N T
                              ________________


Hon Mimmie Chan J (giving the Judgment of the Court):

   1. On 16 July 2026, this court (Barma JA and  Mimmie  Chan  J)  handed
      down  a  judgment  dismissing  the   applicants’   appeal   against
      the decision of  Deputy  High  Court  Judge  Bruno  Chan  given  on
      11 November 2025 refusing to grant  leave  for  the  applicants  to
      apply for judicial review.  The applicants had sought to review the
      decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board dismissing their appeal
      against the decision of the Director of Immigration rejecting their
      non-refoulement claim.

   2. The facts and issues in the applicants’  appeal,  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 applicants subsequently applied, by a Notice of Motion filed on
      21 July 2026, for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal.

   4. In the Notice of Motion, the applicants stated, without elaboration
      nor particulars, that they disagreed  with  the  judgment  of  this
      Court and that it was “unreasonable”.

   5. In breach of Practice Direction 2.1, the applicants failed to lodge
      written submissions in support  of  their  application.   They  are
      therefore debarred from  doing  so,  and  we  will  determine  this
      application on the basis of the materials filed.

   6. Having considered the applicants’  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  applicants’  application  on  the  basis  of   the
      documents filed.

   7. The matters stated by the applicants do not constitute grounds  for
      granting leave to  appeal  to  the  Court  of  Final  Appeal.   The
      applicants have 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 they have raised.

   8. 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.

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

  10. For these reasons, the Notice of  Motion  dated  21  July  2026  is
      dismissed.







|(Aarif Barma)                    |(Mimmie Chan)                   |
|Justice of Appeal                |Judge of the                    |
|                                 |Court of First Instance         |


The applicants acting in person
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[1] See [2026] HKCA 1182

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