Re Vila Ma Anthea Lagat

CACV 385/2021

[2023] HKCA 462

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

CIVIL APPEAL NO 385 OF 2021

(ON APPEAL FROM HCAL 2838 OF 2018)

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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 6 December 2021, this court (Barma JA and Lisa Wong J)  handed down a judgment dismissing the applicant’s appeal against the decision of Deputy High Court Judge To (“the Judge”)  given on 30 July 2021 refusing leave to the applicant to apply for judicial review. The applicant had sought to review the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board (“the Board”)  dismissing her appeal against the decision of the Director of Immigration (“the Director”)  rejecting her 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 on 29 December 2021, for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal.  In the Notice of Motion, the applicant claimed that there was “some error in law” committed by the decision-maker and that the court had ignored “the overwhelming of the evidence”.

4.In her written submissions lodged on 11 January 2022, the applicant stated that she disagreed with the decisions made by the Director and the Board, that her case had been determined unfairly and that the Judges had failed to “appreciate the significance of [her] non-refoulement claim”.

5.Having considered the applicant’s Notice of Motion and written submissions, 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 documents filed.

6.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 she has raised.

7.Neither the Notice of Motion nor the written submissions identify any supposed error in our judgment and they raise no ground that is reasonably arguable before the Court of Final Appeal.

8.We also do not see any basis for granting leave on the “otherwise” limb under section 22(1)(b).

9.For these reasons, the Notice of Motion dated 29 December 2021 is dismissed.

The applicant acting in person