LUONG THI THU HA v. TORTURE CLAIMS APPEAL BOARD

HCAL 542/2025

[2026] HKCFI 2910

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST

NO 542 OF 2025

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BETWEEN

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D E C I S I O N

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1.  On 3 July 2025 I refused to grant leave to the Applicant to apply for judicial review of the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board (“Board”) in dismissing her appeal regarding her non-refoulement claim upon finding that none of the grounds put forward by her reasonably arguable for her intended challenge, that there was no error of law or procedural unfairness in the process before the Director of Immigration (“Director”) or the Board or in their decisions, and that there was no reasonable prospect of success in her intended application.

2.  The Applicant now by a summons issued on 23 July 2025 (of which somehow was only recently brought to the court’s attention) seeks leave to appeal against that decision out of time, as the 14-day period for her to file her appeal under Order 53 rule 3(4) of the Rules of the High Court, Cap 4A ended on 17 July 2025, and hence she was 6 days late with her intended appeal.

3.  In considering whether to extend time for appealing against a decision refusing leave to apply for judicial review, the Court shall have regard to (i) the length of the delay; (ii) the reason for the delay; (iii) the prospect of the intended appeal; and (iv) the prejudice to the respondent if an extension of time were granted: see Re MK HCMP 2609/2016, 10 January 2017; Chu On Fong Winter v The Appeal Panel (Housing) HCMP 982/2017, 20 July 2017; Islam Raja Rais v Director of Immigration HCMP 881/2017, 26 June 2017; Re Gurung Min Bahadur [2018] HKCA 226; and Re Saqlain Muhammad [2018] HKCA 346.

4.  In the Applicant’s case, a delay of 6 days may not be considered as significant, for which she explained in her affirmation that she has no knowledge about English or the financial means to obtain legal advice regarding the procedure for appeal which accounted for the delay in the filing of her intended appeal.

5.  The court record shows that the decision was sent on the same day of 3 July 2025 to her then reported address without being returned through undelivered post, while ignorance of the procedural rules can never be a good or valid reason or justification for their non-compliance, I am therefore not satisfied that the Applicant has provided any good reason for her delay, but given the relative insignificance thereof, I propose to focus on the prospect of success of her intended appeal.

6.  The Applicant has however failed to put forward any proper or valid draft or proposed grounds of appeal, or any particulars of any error in the decision or why it may be reasonably arguable that the decision was unfair or unreasonable either in her summons or her affirmation. As such, and in the absence of any error in the decision being clearly and properly identified by the Applicant, I do not see any prospect of success in her intended appeal.

7.  In the premises, and for the reasons given, it would be futile to extend time for what appears to be a hopeless appeal by the Applicant. Accordingly, I refuse her application for leave to appeal out of time, and dismiss her summons.