Palmaira Emjay Higado v. Torture Claims Appeal Board / Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office

Case No.HCAL 184/2023[2026] HKCFI 3132

Court

High Court CFI

Date08 Jun 2026

Judge—

Case Document

100%Judiciary

HCAL 184/2023

[2026] HKCFI 3132

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST No. 184 of 2023

BETWEEN
	Palmaira Emjay Higado	Applicant
	and
	Torture Claims Appeal Board /	Putative
	Non-Refoulement Claims Petition Office	Respondent
	and
	Director of Immigration	Putative
		Interested Party

Application for Leave to Apply for Judicial Review

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

Following;

consideration of the documents only; or

consideration of the documents and oral submissions by the Applicant in open court;

Order by Deputy High Court Judge (Non-Refoulement Claims) Martin Wong:

1.  The Applicant’s Form 86 be amended to name the TCAB Decision as the decision in respect of which relief is sought; and

2.  Leave to withdraw the application for leave to apply for judicial review be granted; and

3.  The application for leave to apply for judicial review be dismissed.

Observations for the Applicant:

Introduction

1.By a Form 86 filed on 9 February 2023 (the “Form 86”), the Applicant applied for leave to apply for judicial review of a decision by the Torture Claims Appeal Board (the “TCAB”) dated “21/3/2021 and 3/11/2022”. She named the TCAB as the proposed respondent and the DOI as an interested party.

2.From the case record, there was a decision by the TCAB dated 1 December 2022 (the “TCAB Decision”), which affirmed a decision by the Director of Immigration (the “DOI”) dated 25 March 2021 in refusing the Applicant’s non-refoulement protection claim.

3.I amended the Form 86 on my own motion to name the TCAB Decision as the decision in respect of which relief is sought.

4.The Applicant requested for a hearing and attended the same.

Withdrawal

5.At the hearing, the Applicant informed me that she was prepared to go back to her home country, the Philippines, any time she is allowed to.

6.I then clarified with her whether she wanted to continue with this application or not. She confirmed that she did not want to continue with this application. I took it that she wanted to withdraw the present application.

7.There is nothing to indicate that the Applicant’s decision to withdraw her application was made other than out of her own free will and there is nothing outstanding in this action, I therefore accede to the withdrawal and formally dismiss this application.

Dated the 8^th day of June 2026

(Cheung Ho Yat, Annson)
for Registrar, High Court

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

Notes for the Applicant: If leave has been granted, the Applicant or the Applicant’s solicitors must:
a) serve on the respondent and such interested parties as may be directed by the Court the order granting leave and any directions given within 14 days after the leave was granted (Order 53, rule 4A); b) issue the originating summons within 14 days after the grant of leave and serve it in accordance with Order 53, rule 5; and c) supply to every other party copies of every affidavit which the Applicant proposes to use at the hearing, including the affidavit in support of the application for leave (Order 53, rule 6(5)).		Sent to the Applicant on 8 June 2026 Palmaira Emjay Higado Applicant’s ref. no.: Nil.		Sent to the Putative Respondent / the Putative Respondent’s solicitors / such Putative Interested Parties as may be directed by the Court / the Putative Interested Parties’ solicitors on 8 June 2026 Torture Claims Appeal Board / Non-Refoulement Claims Petition Office Putative Respondent’s ref. no.: USM 17791 Director of Immigration Putative Interested Party’s ref. no.: QA T/C 46/21 (formerly RBCZ 170/20) Department of Justice, Senior Assistant Law Officer (Civil Law) (Civil Litigation Unit 2)

Form CALL-1