RE SK ARIF

HCAL 1345/2018

[2020] HKCFI 1963

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST

NO 1345 OF 2018

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D E C I S I O N

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1.  On 20 January 2020 I refused to extend time for the Applicant to file his late application for leave to apply for judicial review of the decision of the Director of Immigration (“the Director”) in rejecting/dismissing his non-refoulement claim upon finding that there was no good reason for extending the period within which he may file his late application due to his failure to provide any valid explanation for his almost two years of delay, that none of the grounds put forward by him reasonably arguable for his intended challenge, that there was no error of law or procedural unfairness in the process before the Director or in his decision, and that there was no reasonable prospect of success in his intended application.

2.  The Applicant now by a summons issued on 24 January 2020 seeks leave to appeal against that decision which was regarded as interlocutory: see Kwok Cheuk Kin v Leung Chun Ying [2018] HKCA 419, and of which section 14AA of the High Court Ordinance, Cap 4 provides that no appeal shall lie to the Court of Appeal from an interlocutory judgment or order of the Court of First Instance in any civil cause or matter unless leave to appeal has been granted.

3.  However, that decision has recently been overturned by the Court of Final Appeal in H v Director of Immigration and AH v Director of Immigration, FACV 1 & 2 of 2020, [2020] HKCFA 22, 14 July 2020, which held that leave to appeal is not required against a decision not to grant an extension of time to apply for leave to apply for judicial review, and to which the said s 14AA of the Ordinance does not apply by reason of Order 59 rule 21(1)(g) of the Rules of the High Court, Cap 4A which provides that a person does not require leave to appeal against an order refusing to grant leave to apply for judicial review.  

4.  In the circumstances and for these reasons, the Applicant therefore did not require leave to appeal when he issued his summons on 24 January 2020, but as he is now, through no fault of his own, way out of time with his intended appeal, no doubt also as a result of the General Adjourned Period announced by the Judiciary due to the Covid-19 pandemic with the general closure of the court and tribunal registries from 29 January 2020 to 3 May 2020, I would therefore extend the time for the Applicant to file his appeal against my decision of 20 January 2020 within 14 days of this order.