Read the full judgment text of CACV 150/2018 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 10 August 2018 before Cheung CJHC and Barma JA.
Administrative law – judicial review – leave to apply for judicial review – non-refoulement claim – Pakistani national – high standard of fairness under Sakthevel Prabakar – whether failure to provide free translation of Non-Refoulement Claim Form (NCF) renders process unfair – Duty Lawyer Scheme – interpretation services – whether absolute right to free legal representation and translation at all stages of proceedings – Court of Appeal endorses deputy judge's refusal of leave – applicant appeared in person – applicant entered Hong Kong illegally and lodged non-refoulement claim based on fear of PPP supporters due to his support of rival PML(N) – Director of Immigration rejected claim finding no real risk of serious harm, state protection available, and internal relocation viable – Torture Claims Appeal Board dismissed appeal – applicant raised four grounds before deputy judge: (1) no legal representation, (2) no language assistance/translation of NCF, (3) no fair hearing due to Director's non-attendance, (4) wrongful exercise of case management power regarding country of origin information – deputy judge refused leave to apply for judicial review – applicant pursued only the language assistance ground on appeal – Court of Appeal held that Sakthevel Prabakar does not prescribe an absolute right to free legal representation or interpretation at all stages – NCF was completed with legal assistance from Duty Lawyer Scheme on applicant's instructions – applicant raised translation complaint for first time in November 2017 and never identified any specific mistranslation – court documents were in English indicating applicant could understand or obtain English assistance – applicant could have clarified any mistranslation at oral hearing before board but declined to give evidence – no error of law or procedural unfairness identified – determination of merits of non-refoulement claim is matter for Director and Board, not court – appeal dismissed
Legal issues: Whether lack of free translation of the Non-Refoulement Claim Form renders the process unfair in breach of the high standard of fairness · Whether the deputy judge erred in refusing leave to apply for judicial review
Outcome: Appeal dismissed; leave to apply for judicial review refused
Cited by 49 cases · Cites 7 cases