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HCAL 1281/2021
[2026] HKCFI 2860
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST No. 1281 of 2021
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BETWEEN
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Phan Thi Hong |
Applicant |
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and |
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Torture Claims Appeal Board/ |
Putative |
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Non-Refoulement Claims Petition Office |
Respondent |
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and |
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Director of Immigration |
Putative |
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Interested Party |
Application for Leave to Apply for Judicial Review
NOTIFICATION of the Judge’s decision (Ord. 53 r. 3)
Following;
Order by Deputy High Court Judge (Non-Refoulement Claims) Lewis Law:
1. The Form 86 be amended to name the Director of Immigration as a putative interested party as opposed to a putative respondent; and
2. The application for leave to apply for judicial review be dismissed.
Observations for the Applicant:
1. By a Form 86 filed on 13 September 2021, the Applicant sought leave for judicial review of a decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board/Non-Refoulement Claims Petition Office (“the Board”) dated 27 July 2021 (“the Board’s Decision”). The Board’s Decision was made after an oral hearing on 26 April 2021 of the Applicant’s appeal/petition from the Director of Immigration (“DI”)’s first-tier decision dated 10 July 2020. A copy of the Board’s Decision can be seen by the following hyperlink[1]. On my own motion, I amend the Form 86 as per paragraph 1 of the above order.
2. The Applicant is a Vietnamese national. Her claim for non-refoulment protection arose from threats from moneylender. The Board, after an intense factual inquiry, found the Applicant’s evidence in relation to the loan, the interest paid and the physical violence from the moneylender unconvincing and lacking in substance. Her assertion that she had borrowed a loan was not accepted. In any event, sufficient State protection and reasonable internal relocation alternative were found to be available.
3. The Applicant has not set out any grounds of judicial review suggesting why the Board’s Decision was vitiated by public law error. She was absent from the oral hearing of this application.
4. It is trite that judicial review is not a rehearing of the merits of a non-refoulement claim. In the absence of any valid argument that the Board had committed a legal error, been irrational in its reasoning and conducted its procedure unfairly, this Court cannot intervene.
5. I have considered the Board’s Decision vigorously, but am unable to detect any reasonable argument that it should be quashed. This application for leave to apply for leave is therefore dismissed.
Dated the 21st day of May 2026
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(Wilinda YIU)
for Registrar, High Court
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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
Notes for the Applicant:
If leave has been granted, the Applicant or the Applicant’s solicitors must:
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a) serve on the respondent and such interested parties as may be directed by the Court the order granting leave and any directions given within 14 days after the leave was granted (Order 53, rule 4A);
b) issue the originating summons within 14 days after the grant of leave and serve it in accordance with Order 53, rule 5; and
c) supply to every other party copies of every affidavit which the Applicant proposes to use at the hearing, including the affidavit in support of the application for leave (Order 53, rule 6(5)).
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Sent to the Applicant on 21st May 2026
Phan Thi Hong
Applicant’s ref. no.:
Nil. |
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Sent to the Putative Respondent / the Putative Respondent’s solicitors / such Putative Interested Parties as may be directed by the Court / the Putative Interested Parties’ solicitors on 21st May 2026
Torture Claims Appeal Board/ Non-Refoulement Claims Petition Office
Putative Respondent’s ref. no.:
USM 17341/20/11/9/V2615
Director of Immigration
Putative Interested Party’s ref. no.:
QA T/C 249 (formerly 10204/20)
Department of Justice,
Senior Assistant Law Officer
(Civil Law)
(Civil Litigation Unit 2) |
Form CALL-1
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