PHAM THI HIEN v. DIRECTOR OF IMMIGRATION

HCAL 175/2023

[2023] HKCFI 855

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST No. 175 of 2023

Application for Leave to Apply for Judicial Review
NOTIFICATION of the Judge’s decision (Ord. 53 r. 3)

Following;

	consideration of documents only;          or
	consideration of documents and oral submissions by the Applicant in open court;

1.   Leave to apply for Judicial Review be refused; and

2.   A Restricted Proceedings Order (RPO) be made against the applicant.

Observations for the Applicant:

THE APPLICATION

1.  This is the applicant’s application for leave to apply for judicial review of the decision of the Director of Immigration dated 12 January 2023 (the “Director’s Decision”) refusing her subsequent claim of HCAL 1290 of 2018 (the “previous claim”) under section 37ZO of the Immigration Ordinance, Cap. 115 (the “Ordinance”).

2.  The Court, upon its own motion, has called upon the applicant to appear before it to show cause why the Court should not make a restricted proceedings order (“RPO”) against her since there is evidence to show that if unrestricted, the applicant may take out further proceedings to assert her non-refoulement claim on the same facts of the case, thereby abusing the legal process.

3.  The applicant appeared before the Court on 8 March 2023.

The procedural history

4.  The applicant is a Vietnamese national. She came to Hong Kong illegally on 22 September 2014. On 24 September 2014, she was arrested and she lodged her non-refoulement claim on the grounds of Torture risk under Part VIIC of the Ordinance, BOR 2 risk, Right to Life under Article 2 of the Bill of Rights Ordinance, the BOR 3 risk under Article 3 of the Bill of Rights Ordinance and Persecution risk under the Refugee Convention.

5.  Her claim was rejected by the Director by a Notice of Decision dated 28 April 2016 and a Notice of Further Decision dated 31 October 2016 on all applicable grounds of her claim.

6.  She appealed to the Torture Claims Appeal Board (the “Board”).  By Decision dated 15 August 2017, the Board dismissed her appeal.

7.  She applied for leave for judicial review of the Board’s Decision and her application was rejected by the Court of First Instance. She applied to the Court of the First Instance for extension of time for her appeal. By an order of the court dated 28 July 2021, the Court of the First Instance refused her application (“the Court’s Order”).

8.  Her application to the Court of Appeal against the Court’s Order was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 2 November 2021.

9.  Her Notice of Motion for leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision to the Court of Final Appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 23 December 2021.

10.  Her application for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision was dismissed on 25 August 2022.

11.  She applied to the Director for making a subsequent claim for non-refoulement protection by letter dated 20 September 2022.

12.  By the Director’s Decision, the Director refused her application.

The subsequent claim application

13.  The factual basis of her previous claim is that if she is refouled, she would be harmed or killed by a person called Bui Van Miet, a loan shark, from whom she had borrowed two loans for her farming business in 2010 and 2012 respectively.

14.  The Director found that her previous claim was not substantiated. She appealed to the Board.

15.  The Board considered the applicant’s evidence. The Board rejected her evidence as fabrications and concocted stories. Also, it found that, if she returned to Vietnam, she would have state protection and internal relocation was an option available to her. It therefore dismissed her appeal.

16.  Under section 37 ZO of the Ordinance, she has to satisfy the immigration officer that there has been a significant change of circumstances since the previous claim was finally determined and such change of circumstances, when taken together with the material previously submitted, would give the subsequent claim a realist prospect of success.

17.  In support of her application, the applicant had submitted a statement in which she alleged that she would be harmed or killed by her creditor as she is unable to pay off her loan. On this occasion, she had named the creditor with a different name from the one in her previous claim. However, the immigration officer considered that the creditor should be the same person. In any event, her source of fear is out of her being unable to pay off her loan to her creditor.  The immigration officer therefore took the view that she relied upon the same facts in support of her previous claim for her subsequent claim. Those issues had been considered and rejected by the Board. Her evidence that her family was threatened by the creditor was found to be hearsay information which could not be verified. The immigration officer did not give weight to such information.

18.  The Director therefore did not accept that there is significant change of circumstances, which, coupled with the previous claim, will give the subsequent claim a realistic prospect of success. Thus, he refused her application for the subsequent claim.

The application for leave to apply for judicial review application

19.  The applicant has filed an affirmation in support of her application, in which she set out the reasons below to support her allegation that the Director’s Decision is unfair and unreasonable.

a.   The Director’s Decision is wrong because he had not given proper weight to the issue of state acquiescence.

b.  The Director had relied unfairly on the country of origin information that supports state protection only without considering the other adverse evidence.

c.   The Director had asked her questions that she was not in a position to offer any response.

d.  The Director had failed to take into account the corruption and incompetency of the Vietnam government in the assessment of her case.

Discussion

20.  The role of this Court is supervisory, meaning that it ensures that the Director complied with the public law requirements in coming to his Decision. The Court will not usurp his fact finding power. See TK v Michael C Jenkins Esq and Director of Immigration [2013] 1 HKC 526, §40 and Nupur Mst v Director of Immigration [2018] HKCA 524 §14 (1).

21.  The Court will bear in mind that the Director’s Decision should be examined with rigorous examination and anxious scrutiny. Before me, the applicant admitted that she had relied on the same facts in her previous claim in support of her subsequent claim and that she was wrong to do so.

22.  As to the grounds in paragraph 19, they are general or bare assertions without specifics or evidence. The Court of Appeal in Salim Ahmed alias MD Salim [2020] HKCA 244 held:

“20. … … general assertions or propositions of law cannot assist an appellant when he fails to condescend to the requisite particulars related to the facts of his case: Re Mizan Sikder [2019] HKCA 20 and Ibrahim v Simon Russell [2019] HKCA 1327.” See also Re Haider Khalil [2021] HKCA 223 [16].”

23.  As the applicant had admitted that she relied upon the same facts in her previous claim in support of her subsequent claim, the grounds in paragraph 19 have become irrelevant and warrant no further consideration.

24.  The Court does not find any error of law or procedural unfairness in the Director’s Decision. The Director’s finding of the facts is not in any respect open to challenge as Wednesbury unreasonable or irrational.

25.  Since there is no realistic prospect of success in her subsequent claim, I dismiss her application for leave to apply for judicial review of the Director’s Decision.

The RPO

26.  The Director’s findings show that the applicant is attempting to re-litigate the facts in support of her previous claim for a subsequent claim, which will amount to an abuse of the process. The Court has the inherent jurisdiction to prevent the applicant from abusing its process by making a RPO and the extended order against her. See paragraphs 7 & 8 of the judgment of the Court of Final Appeal in Ng Yat Chi v Max Share Limited and China Resources (Holdings) Company Limited (2005) 8 HKCFAR 1.

27.  RPO is appropriate for the present case. See The Secretary for Justice v Yuen Oi Yee Lisa, alias Lisa Yuen, Lisa Lee and another [2006] 1 HKLRD 679, Re Wahyuni v Direcctor of Immigration [2021] HKCFI 1991, by Hon. Chow JA (sitting as an additional judge of the Court of First Instance), 6 July 2021, § 9 and Re Uddin Borhan v Director of Immigration [2021] HKCFI 2129, § 25.

28.  In my view, the fact that the applicant is entitled to apply for subsequent claim under section 37ZO of the Ordinance is irrelevant so far as her intention is clearly an abuse of the process. The application should be viewed together with the procedural history of the case.

29.  For this reason, the Court has called upon the applicant to appear before it to show cause why RPO should not be made against her. The applicant has been explained the proposed restricted proceedings order before this hearing.

30.  Upon being requested to show cause why the Court should not make the RPO against her, the applicant said she had nothing to say.

31.  Having considered the applicant’s explanation, I am satisfied that, if not restrained, it is likely that the applicant would proceed with this application and other proceedings for the sole purpose of remaining in Hong Kong only. I shall therefore make the RPO in terms below:

(1)  The Applicant be prohibited from commencing any fresh proceedings by whatever originating process, or continuing any existing legal proceedings, relating to any non-refoulement claim of the Applicant in the High Court and any appeal, including this Order, without leave of the Court of First Instance.

(2)  All applications for leave under paragraph (1) shall be made to the Deputy High Court Judge K.W. Lung or in his absence, the Judge in charge of the Constitutional and Administrative Law List or such other Judge as may be designated by the Chief Judge of the High Court to hear cases in the Constitutional and Administrative Law List.

(3)  At least 7 days before filing any application for leave under paragraph (1), the Applicant do notify in writing each intended defendant or respondent of her intention to make such application, enclosing a copy of the draft document by which the fresh proceedings are intended to be commenced, and if any response is received by the Applicant from any such intended defendant or respondent, that the Applicant do file a copy of each such response together with the said application for leave.

(4)  Any intended defendant or respondent having notice of such intended proceedings be entitled but under no obligation to place before the Court written representations regarding the same.

(5)  All applications made pursuant to this order and all ancillary matters be dealt with by the court on paper and without any oral hearing unless the Court should otherwise direct.

(6)  If the Applicant should issue fresh proceedings falling or which may fall within the terms of paragraph (1) without first seeking the Court’s leave, and if such fact should come to the notice of the Registrar of the High Court or any Master or Judge, such fresh proceedings be referred to the Court for a decision as to whether they should be permitted to continue or should be dismissed.

(7)  Notice of each decision by this Court or the designated Judge made pursuant to this order be given in writing to the Applicant and to each intended defendant or respondent named in the fresh proceedings.

(8)  Whether or not any fresh proceedings are brought to the notice of the Court, if a defendant or respondent is served with such proceedings without the relevant documents being accompanied by either an order granting leave to commence such proceedings or a direction that leave to commence such proceedings is not required, such defendant or respondent be entitled to make no response to such service pending notification of the court’s decision in relation to those proceedings; and that time for acknowledging service or for otherwise responding to such proceedings be deemed extended accordingly.

(9)  No more than one leave application under paragraph (1) may be made by the Applicant within any period of 3 months.

(10)  No appeal shall lie from a decision of the Judge granting or refusing leave within this Order unless leave to appeal has been granted by the Court.

(11)  This order shall cease to have effect at the end of 5 years from the date of this order.

(12)  A copy of this Order shall be sent to the Registrar of the High Court.

DISPOSITION

32.  The applicant’s application is dismissed.

33.  RPO in terms of paragraph 31 be made against the applicant.

Where leave to apply has been granted, Applicants and their legal advisers are reminded of their obligation to reconsider the merits of their application in the light of the Respondent’s evidence

Form CALL-1