RE MOHAMMAD SHAKIL

HCAL 2135/2018

[2022] HKCFI 2374

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST

NO 2135 OF 2018

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D E C I S I O N

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1.  On 1 April 2022 I refused to grant leave to the Applicant to apply for judicial review of the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board (“Board”) in rejecting/dismissing his appeal/petition regarding his non-refoulement claim upon finding that none of his proposed grounds were reasonably arguable for his intended challenge, that there was no error of law or procedural unfairness in the process before Director of Immigration (“Director”) or the Board or in their decisions, and that there was no reasonable prospect of success in his intended application.

2.  The Applicant now by a summons issued on 19 April 2022 seeks extension of time to appeal against that decision, as the 14-day period for him to file his appeal under Order 53 rule 3(4) of the Rules of the High Court, Cap 4A ended on 15 April 2022, and he was deemed by the Registry to have been 4 days out of time with his intended appeal.

3.  It turns out that 15 April 2022 was Easter Friday and the start of the Easter Holiday when the Registry was closed until the following Tuesday on 19 April 2022, and as provided by Order 3 rule 4 of the Rules of the High Court, Cap 4A that the Applicant’s intended appeal should be allowed to be filed on that day when the Registry was re-opened instead of being treated as out of time and was thus required to issue the summons now before me for leave to file it out of time.

4.  In the premises, and given that the Applicant is now of course as a result out of time with the filing of his appeal, I accordingly extend the period for him to do so within 14 days of this order.