Nguyen Thi Xoa v. Torture Claims Appeal Board / Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office

HCAL 209/2022

[2026] HKCFI 1466

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST No. 209 of 2022

Application for Leave to Apply for Judicial Review

NOTIFICATION of the Judge’s decision (Ord. 53 r. 3)

Following:

Order by Deputy High Court Judge (Non-refoulement Claims) Connie Lee:

1.   Form 86 be amended, naming only the Torture Claims Appeal Board/Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office as the Putative Respondent and the Director of Immigration as the Putative Interested Party.

2.   The application herein for leave to apply for judicial review be dismissed.

Observations for the Applicant:

Introduction

1.By Form 86 filed on 14 April 2022, the Applicant seeks leave to apply for judicial review (the “Leave Application”) of the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board/Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office (the “Board”) dated 25 March 2022 (the “Board’s Decision”).  By that decision, the Board confirmed the decision of the Director of Immigration dated 27 October 2021 (the “Director’s Decision”), which had rejected her non-refoulement claim on all applicable grounds under the Unified Screening Mechanism (USM).

2.The Applicant’s background, the basis of her claim and the arguments she advanced had been set out in detail in the Board’s Decision.  It is not necessary for me to repeat the same here.  Unless otherwise specified, the abbreviations and descriptions used in the Board’s Decision, the hyperlink[1] to which is included below, are also adopted herein.

3.The Applicant attended the oral hearing scheduled before me and indicated that she had nothing else to add.

Discussion

4.Judicial review does not operate as a further avenue of appeal.  The Leave Application operates as a “filtering” process and there is no requirement or expectation to give elaborate reasons for my decision.  The primary decision makers are the Director of Immigration (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 error of laws, procedural unfairness or irrationality in the decision of the Board. [2]

5.In seeking to challenge the Board’s Decision, the Applicant ought to have clearly and precisely identified the grounds relied upon in the Form 86 and in her supporting affirmation.[3]  As matter stands, the Applicant only included the ground that the Board Decision has been reached unfairly without allowing her an opportunity to clarify her case and situation in her country.

6.I have scrutinized the Board’s Decision and come to the view that the purported ground identified by the Applicant cannot be established or considered as valid or effective public law ground.

7.First, the ground merely consists of general assertions without particulars.  The same cannot assist the Applicant. [4]

8.In particular, I do not agree that the Applicant was not given an opportunity to clarify her case.  She attended the oral hearing before the Board and confirmed the accuracy and truthfulness of the documents submitted by her.  The Board also clarified certain matters with her.  The Board was acutely aware of her claim that if refouled, her creditor i.e. Tran and his men would harm and kill her because she could not repay the loan.

9.Second, the Board had assessed the material facts and evidence of the Applicant’s claim including the COI materials.  The Board was entitled to find that (1) the threat to harm or kill the Applicant was just an empty threat to pressurize her to repay the loan; (2) her injuries were not serious at all and there was no and no risk of ill-treatment which could attain a minimum of severity; (3) she should have no difficulty to relocate within Vietnam and (4) the Vietnamese government has recently undergone reforms to combat corruption amongst police and to improve their efficiency.

10.Third, in all circumstances, I can discern no error of law or procedural unfairness or irrationality on the part of the Board in the assessment and rejection of the Applicant’s claim.  The Board was entitled to come to the conclusions it did and reject her claim.

Conclusion

11.Accordingly, I am not satisfied that the Applicant’s intended application for judicial review of the Board’s Decision is reasonably arguable with any realistic prospects of success.[5]  I dismiss the Application.

Dated the 27^th day of March 2026

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

Form CALL-1