Re Koriatul Karomah

HCAL 1392/2018

[2020] HKCFI 2302

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST

NO 1392 OF 2018  

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D E C I S I O N

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1.On 16 January 2020 I refused to grant leave to the Applicant to apply for judicial review of the decision of the Director of Immigration (“the Director”) or the Torture Claims Appeal Board (“the Board”) in rejecting/dismissing her non-refoulement claim upon finding 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 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 8 May 2020 seeks extension of time to appeal against that decision, as the 14-day period for her to file her appeal under Order 53 rule 3(4) of the Rules of High Court, Cap 4A ended on 30 January 2020, and hence she was out of time by more than 3 months 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 more than 3 months must be considered as significant, for which she explained in her affirmation and in court that she was unable to come to court to file her appeal due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

5.Indeed, as the last day for her to file her appeal fell after the general adjournment of legal proceedings announced by the Judiciary on 29 January 2020 (“GAP”) as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and with the general postal service in operation only 3 days per week as well as the reduced operations in the High Court Registry during the material time of the GAP which ended only on 3 May 2020, I accept the Applicant’s explanation for her delay with her appeal and that there are justifications to extend time for her to file her appeal.      

6.In the premises, and accordingly I grant the Applicant an extension of time to file her appeal within 14 days of this order.

The applicant appeared in person