Read the full judgment text of HCAL 000026/1998 on BabelCite. This High Court CFI judgment was delivered on 15 May 1998 before Stock J.
Administrative law – habeas corpus – Immigration Ordinance – detention pending removal – Nigerian national refused permission to land – detention under section 32(1)(a) authorised by Senior Principal Immigration Officer – whether detention lawful – whether power to detain exercised arbitrarily or for longer than reasonably necessary – Court of First Instance – writ discharged – Court of First Instance – Court of First Instance – Habeas corpus examines only the existence of lawful authority for detention, not the reasonableness of the underlying decision or observance of natural justice, which are matters for judicial review – Whether sections 18 and 32(1)(a) of the Immigration Ordinance empowered the applicant's detention pending removal to Nigeria as the specified country of his nationality – Held: yes; the statutory powers existed and the underlying facts justified their exercise – Whether the power to detain carries an implicit limitation against arbitrariness and to what is reasonably necessary – Held: such questions go to the reasonableness of the exercise of an existing power, properly within judicial review; on the facts no arbitrariness or unreasonableness was shown given the applicant's expired ticket, minimal cash, unsubstantiated business claims, and refusal of re-admission by Shenzhen authorities – Whether detention had been unreasonably prolonged – Held: no; following R v Governor of Durham Prison, Ex parte Hardial Singh [1984] 1 WLR 704, the period was not unduly long and any delay was largely attributable to the applicant's refusal to travel to Nigeria – Outcome: application dismissed, writ discharged, costs to the respondent, no stay granted – Court of First Instance – Court of First Instance.
Legal issues: Lawfulness of detention of refused landing pending removal · Whether detention under section 32 is arbitrary or unreasonable · Whether length of detention is unreasonably prolonged
Outcome: Application for habeas corpus dismissed; writ discharged; detention held lawful; no stay of execution ordered.