Re Ruhul Quddus Swaphan Alias S Kuddas Alias Ruhul Quddus Swapan

CACV 284/2020

[2021] HKCA 361

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

CIVIL APPEAL NO. 284 OF 2020

(ON APPEAL FROM HCAL NO. 1831 OF 2018)

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Before:  Hon Cheung JA, B Chu and ST Poon JJ in Court

Date of Judgment:  19 March 2021

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J U D G M E N T

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Hon Cheung JA (giving Judgment of the Court) :

1)  The appeal

1.1This is an appeal against the decision of Deputy High Court Judge K.W. Lung who refused to grant leave to the applicant to apply for judicial review against the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board (‘the Board’) on 13 July 2020.

1.2This appeal was scheduled to be heard on 26 January 2021.  Despite the directions contained in the letter from the High Court to the applicant dated 6 November 2020, the applicant failed to lodge the skeleton argument by the stipulated time.  Accordingly the hearing was vacated and we will deal with this appeal on paper.

2)  Background

2.1The applicant is a national of Bangladesh.  He entered Hong Kong legally and overstayed. He raised a non-refoulement claim on the basis that if he returned he would be harmed or killed by his cousins to whom he owed money towards.  

2.2The details of the applicant’s claim have been summarized by the Judge at [4] to [7] of the CALL-1 Form.

3)  The Director’s Decision

3.The Director of Immigration (‘the Director’) decided against the applicant’s claim on 17 October 2017.  The decision covered the applicant’s rights under Article 3 (right against torture and cruel and inhuman treatment etc) of the Bill of Rights (‘BOR 3’), Article 2 (right to life) of the Bill of Rights (‘BOR 2’), as well as his other statutory and convention rights against torture and persecution (‘the Director’s Decision).

4)  The Board’s Decision

4.1The applicant appealed against the Director’s Decision to the Board.  After a hearing held on 26 April 2018, the Board dismissed the applicant’s appeal against the Director’s Decision on 31 August 2018.

4.2The Board found that although the applicant’s story of his debt to the cousins was consistent, the difficulty lay in nothing is known about the whereabouts of the two assailant cousins at present.  The alleged event happened in 1984.  During the time between 1990 and 2003, the applicant was in Bangladesh and he suffered no harm from the cousins during that period.  There was insufficient evidence to show that the applicant would suffer substantial risk of harm if he returned to his home country.

5)  Decision of the Judge

5.1The applicant filed a Form 86 with a supporting affirmation.  He did not set out any grounds to support his judicial review application.

5.2The Judge held that the applicant appearing before him understood English.  He confirmed before the Judge that he was treated fairly before the Director and the Board.  He merely stated that he did not agree with the Board but could not state with particularity where the Board was in error.

6)  Grounds of appeal

6.Doing the best we can to understand the applicant’s handwritten contents in his notice of appeal, he seemed to state that there is some form of handicap or impairment that he was suffering which affected his case.  No further particulars were provided.

7)  Our view

7.1We will repeat the approach of this Court in dealing with cases of this nature :

(1)  The role of the Court in a judicial review is not to provide a further avenue of appeal.  The primary decision makers are the Director and the Board.  Though in non-refoulement cases the Court will adopt an enhanced standard in scrutinizing the decision of the Board due to the seriousness of the issue at hand, the Court should not usurp the role of the Board.  Assessment of evidence and COI materials and risk of harm, state protection and viability of internal relocation are primarily within the province of the Board (and the Director).  The Court will not intervene by way of judicial review unless there are errors of law or procedural unfairness or irrationality in their decisions.

(2)  An appeal against the refusal of leave by a judge in the Court of First Instance is not the occasion for regurgitating arguments advanced and rejected by the Judge.  In the determination for an appeal, the Court of Appeal focuses on the decision of the Judge and we would only reverse that decision if an appellant can demonstrate that the Judge made errors of law or failed to take account of relevant matters already placed before the Court or was otherwise plainly wrong.

(3)  In an appeal against a refusal of leave to apply for judicial review in non-refoulement cases, the Court of Appeal will only examine the decision of the Judge in the light of the grounds advanced by the appellant.  If no viable ground is put forward to reverse the Judge, the appeal should be dismissed.  It is not the role of the Court to examine the decision of the Board afresh as if it is a fresh application for judicial review.

7.2In our view there is no merit in the applicant’s appeal.  Consideration of evidential matters is the task of the Board.  The Judge had provided his reasons of refusal in his decision.

7.3We see no error in the Judge’s decision.  Accordingly the appeal is dismissed.

Applicant, unrepresented, acting in person