RE ISLAM MOHAMMAD SAIFUL

CACV 244/2023,[2026] HKCA 1207

On appeal from [2023] HKCFI 1923

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

CIVIL APPEAL NO 244 OF 2023

(ON APPEAL FROM HCAL 2830/2019)

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J U D G M E N T

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Hon Barma JA (giving the Judgment of the Court):

1.  On 8 May 2025, this court (Barma JA and Chow JA) handed down a judgment dismissing the applicant’s appeal against the decision of Deputy High Court Judge Bruno Chan given on 26 July 2023 refusing leave to the applicant to apply for judicial review. The applicant had sought to review the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board dismissing his appeal against the decision of the Director of Immigration rejecting his non‑refoulement claim.

2.  The facts and issues in the applicant’s 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 applicant subsequently applied, by a Notice of Motion filed out of time on 17 September 2025, for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal.  In the Notice of Motion, the applicant contended that this court’s decision had been “unfairly reached”.  The applicant also filed an affirmation of the same date with voluminous attachments.  On 19 November 2025, the Registrar of Civil Appeals directed that the affirmation would not be considered by the court, for the reasons given in the directions and further directed the applicantto file written submissions by 11 December 2025.

4.  In breach of the directions made by the Registrar of Civil Appeals, the applicant failed to lodge written submissions in support of the Notice of Motion.  He is thus deemed to have abandoned his right to rely on written submissions.

5.  Having considered the applicant’s 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 applicant’s application on the basis of the Notice of Motion.

6.  The applicant has proffered no reasonable reasons for the delay (of over 3 months) in filing his Notice of Motion.  Although the Notice of Motion is liable to be dismissed on this basis alone, we have decided on this occasion to nonetheless consider the merits of the application.

7.  The matters stated by the applicant do not constitute grounds for granting leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal. The applicant has 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 he has 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 17 September 2025 is dismissed.