Balwinder Singh v. Torture Claims Appeal Board / Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office

CACV 321/2025, [2026] HKCA 765

On Appeal From [2025] HKCFI 1694

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

CIVIL APPEAL NO 321 OF 2025

(ON APPEAL FROM HCAL NO 2881 OF 2019)

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BETWEEN

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JUDGMENT

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The Court:

INTRODUCTION

1.This is the Applicant’s appeal against the order of Deputy High Court Judge KW Lung (“the Judge”) dated 20 May 2025 (“the Order”) refusing to grant leave to apply for judicial review of the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board/Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office (“the Board”) dated 23 September 2019 (“the Board’s Decision”).

BACKGROUND

2.The Applicant is a national of India. On 28 April 2015, the Applicant lodged a non-refoulement claim on the basis that, if refouled, he would be harmed or killed by his uncle because of a land dispute.[1] The Applicant’s claim was rejected by the Director of Immigration (“the Director”) on 22 August 2018, and the appeal against the Director’s decision was rejected by the Board on 23 September 2019. Details of the Applicant’s claim and the Board’s reasons for rejecting the Applicant’s appeal can be found in the judgment dated 20 May 2025 (“the Judgment”).[2]

3.The Applicant’s application for leave to apply for judicial review was refused by the Judge on 20 May 2025. Details of the Judge’s reasons for refusing to grant leave can be found in the Judgment.

GROUNDS OF APPEAL

4.In the Notice of Appeal filed on 21 May 2025, the Applicant states that:

“Respected high court I am not satisfied with ORDER which I get from high court because they refuse my case, so I want to apply Judicial review against my ORDER.” (sic)

5.The Applicant has failed to lodge written submissions in support of the appeal in accordance with the directions given by the Registrar of Civil Appeals on 15 December 2025. Accordingly, the Applicant is deemed to have waived the right to have an oral hearing of the appeal and elected to have the appeal disposed of on paper. Having considered the documents before us, we consider that it is appropriate to deal with the Applicant’s appeal on paper without an oral hearing.

DISCUSSION & DISPOSITION

6.In an appeal against refusal of leave to apply for judicial review in non-refoulement cases, the Court of Appeal would only examine the decision of the judge in light of the grounds advanced by the applicant. If no viable ground is put forward to reverse the judge’s decision, the appeal should be dismissed. The Court of Appeal’s role is not to examine the Board’s decision afresh as if it was a fresh application for judicial review (see Nupur Mst v Director of Immigration [2018] HKCA 524, at §14(6)).

7.The assessment of evidence, country of origin information, 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 the decision of the Board: Re Kartini [2019] HKCA 1022.

8.The matters raised in the Applicant’s Notice of Appeal are all general allegations without particulars. They do not constitute any valid grounds of appeal against the Judge’s decision. The Applicant’s appeal has no merit, and is dismissed.

The Applicant, unrepresented, acted in person