Mohammed Ekbal Khan v. Torture Claims Appeal Board / Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office
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HCAL 3732/2019 [2025] HKCFI 2457 IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST No. 3732 of 2019
Application for Leave to Apply for Judicial Review Following;
Order by Deputy High Court Judge (Non-refoulement Claims) Philips Wong:
Observations for the Applicant: Introduction 1.By Form 86 filed on 16 December 2019 (the “Form”), the Applicant applied for leave to apply for judicial review (the “Leave Application”) against the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board / Non‑refoulement Claims Petition Office (the “Board”) dated 13 December 2019 (the “Board’s Decision”). 2.In the Form, the Applicant has named the adjudicator responsible for the Board’s Decision as the proposed respondent, and the Board as the proposed interested party. As it is trite that the Board should be the proposed respondent and the Director of Immigration (the “Director”) should be the proposed interested party in an application of this sort, I make an order to amend the Form accordingly on the court’s own motion. 3.The Applicant requested an oral hearing for the application. The hearing took place on 10 March 2025. The Applicant attended in person. Background 4.The Applicant’s background, the basis of his claim and the arguments he advanced had been set out in details in the Board’s Decision, and it is not necessary for me to repeat the same here. The hyperlink to the Board’s Decision is included below[1] for reference. Discussion 5.The applicable legal principles relating to application of this sort are well established. 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, country of origin information (COI) materials, 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, procedural unfairness or irrationality in the decision of the Board. (See Nupur Mst v Director of Immigration [2018] HKCA 524, at §14) 6.In the Form, the Applicant did not state any grounds in support of the Leave Application. In the supporting Affirmation, the Applicant simply attached the Board’s Decision and the hearing bundles before the Board. No grounds have been provided in support of the Leave Application in the supporting Affirmation. 7.At the hearing on 10 March 2025, the Applicant stated the following:-
8.I have considered the Board’s Decision in details. I do not find any error of law, procedural unfairness or irrationality. Neither has the Applicant been able to demonstrate any of the same. There is nothing to indicate that the Board had failed to take into account any relevant matters. The Board’s Decision was comprehensive with adequate reasons provided. The Board was entitled to find that the Applicant had failed to establish the primary facts in support of his claims based on the evidence (§12-38 of the Board’s Decision). The Board’s Decision satisfies the enhanced Wednesbury test and is not Wednesbury unreasonable or irrational. 9.I also do not regard the Applicant’s alleged medical conditions as relevant consideration to the present Leave Application or to the claims before the Board. I have considered the documents submitted by the Applicant at the hearing on 10 March 2025. None of them supports the Applicant’s alleged heart condition. In respect of the foot condition, contrary to what the Applicant said at the hearing, the documents show that it was the Applicant who expressed interest in surgery / specialist options, and so a referral letter was issued. In short, the documents adduced do not support what the Applicant said at the hearing. In any event, as I have pointed out, the alleged medical conditions of the Applicant are not relevant to the claims or to the present Leave Application. The Board was entitled and indeed correct to disregard such alleged medical conditions of the Applicant (§76 of the Board’s Decision). 10.I am not satisfied that the Applicant’s intended challenge of the Board’s Decision is reasonably arguable with any realistic prospects of success. Accordingly, I refuse to grant leave for judicial review. 11.Leave application of this sort is meant to be a filtering process and I am not expected to give elaborated reasons for my decision (see Re Zunariyah [2018] HKCA 14, at §23). Suffice for me to state that in reaching the decision, I have considered all the relevant documents before me. Conclusion 12.In the premises, I make an order that the Form be amended as described above and the Leave Application be dismissed. Dated the 10th day of June 2025.
Where leave to apply has been granted, Applicants and their legal advisers are reminded of their obligation to reconsider the merits of their application in the light of the Respondent’s evidence
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