Tolentino Abelle Roque v. Torture Claims Appeal Board

HCAL 1709/2023

[2026] HKCFI 3402

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST NO 1709 OF 2023

Application for leave to apply for judicial review

NOTIFICATION of the Judge’s decision (Order 53, rule 3)

Following:

	consideration of the documents only; or
	consideration of the documents and oral submissions by the applicant or counsel in open court;

Order by Deputy High Court Judge Michael WONG:

1.  On this court’s own motion, the name of the putative respondent be amended to “Torture Claims Appeal Board” and the name of the putative interested party be amended to “Director of Immigration”.

2.  The applicant’s application for leave to apply for judicial review be dismissed.

Observations for the applicant:

The Leave Application

1.By way of Form 86 dated and filed on 25 September 2023, the applicant applied for leave to apply for judicial review (“the Leave Application”) in respect of the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board (“the Board”) dated 20 September 2023 (“the Board’s Decision”). The Board’s Decision can be viewed in the following hyperlink:-

https://legalref.judiciary.hk/doc/judg/html/vetted/other/en/2023/HCAL001709_2023_files/the_Board's_Decision.pdf

2.The Board found that the applicant did not qualify for non-refoulement protection in Hong Kong on any of the applicable grounds under the Unified Screening Mechanism (“the USM”). Hence, the Board confirmed the decision of the Director of Immigration (“the Director”) dated 27 August 2021, which rejected the applicant’s non-refoulement claim.

Amendments

3.In Form 86, the applicant named the Board and “Non-refulment Claim Petition Office” as the putative respondents, and the Board and “Non-refoulment Claims Petition Office” as the putative interested parties.

4.In fact, only the Board should be the putative respondent, and the Director should be the putative interested party.

5.The Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office is just an office providing administrative and secretariat support to the adjudicators of the Board and should not be named as a putative party at all.

6.Thus, this court makes an order on its own motion to amend the name of the putative respondent to “Torture Claims Appeal Board” and the name of the putative interested party to “Director of Immigration”.

The applicant’s case

7.It is not necessary for this court to repeat the details of the applicant’s case here as the same were set out in the Board’s Decision, which can be viewed in the hyperlink above.

8.In sum, the applicant claimed for non-refoulement protection because if refouled to the Philippines, she would be harmed or killed by New People’s Army (“NPA”). Her mother was a member of a NPA unit. The commander thought that her mother had given some money and documents of NPA to her. She had never received them and would be unable to return them to NPA.

Disposal on paper

9.The applicant did not request for an oral hearing of the Leave Application. This court is also satisfied that the Leave Application can be disposed of based on the written materials before this court. Hence, the Leave Application is dealt with on paper.

Grounds for judicial review

10.The applicant is required to identify clearly the grounds for the intended judicial review (see Ho Loy & Another v Director of Environmental Protection, HCAL 21 of 2015, dated 22.12.2016).

11.The applicant did not advance any ground for her intended judicial review in Form 86, nor in her supporting affidavit dated 25 September 2023. In her affidavit, the applicant merely mentioned that “they” would kill her when she went back to her country, and wherever you went in the Philippines, there were many NPA there.

Discussion

12.First of all, the applicant’s danger from NPA had been duly assessed but rejected by the Board. If she intends to challenge the Board’s finding of facts, it is not permissible in an application for judicial review.

13.The role of the court in judicial review is not to re-assess the non-refoulement claims afresh. The primary decision-makers in a claim for non-refoulement are the Director and the Board. They alone assess the evidence and find facts including those relating to the matters allegedly giving rise to the non-refoulement claim, risk of harm, availability of state protection and viability of internal relocation. The court will scrutinize the Board’s decision and intervene by way of judicial review only for errors of law, procedural unfairness, or irrationality (see Nupur Mst v Director of Immigration [2018] HKCA 524).

14.Thus, despite the fact that the applicant did not advance any valid ground for the intended judicial review, this court will scrutinize the Board’s Decision for any errors of law, procedural unfairness, or irrationality as aforesaid.

15.In assessing the appeal/petition by the applicant, the Board held an oral hearing on 28 June 2023. The applicant was present and was given the chance to present her case to the Board in person.

16.As can be seen from the Board’s Decision, the Board gave full and detailed reasoning in rejecting the applicant’s claims.

17.In gist, the Board found that the applicant had not suffered any harm or threats of death or harm from any supporters or members of NPA. The applicant was not persecuted for any Convention reason. The perpetuators of the applicant’s fear were non-state actors. The applicant’s contention that the government of the Philippines was unwilling or unable to protect her against NPA was inconsistent with country of origin information (“COI”).

18.With regards to state protection, although COI showed that corruption and police inefficiency remained to be problems in the Philippines, the Board also found from reliable COI that there was in force a criminal law which made the violent attacks by persecutors punishable by sentences commensurate with the gravity of the crimes. There was no clear or convincing evidence to show that the Philippine government refused, or was unable, to offer effective protection to the applicant.

19.More importantly, the Board had given its full reasons in paragraphs 187 to 190 of the Board’s Decision for a finding that the applicant could reasonably live without fear of the alleged harms and undue hardship, if she relocated to the City of Manila, the City of Mandaluyong and the Pasay City.

20.Thus, the Board concluded that the applicant’s appeal/petition and her claim for non-refoulement protection in Hong Kong failed on all the applicable grounds under the USM.

21.The finding of facts, including the assessment of evidence, COI and risk of harm, was solely within the ambit of the Board in dealing with the applicant’s appeal/petition. The Board was entitled to make its own decision. This court finds nothing wrong or unreasonable in the way the Board reached its conclusion.

22.Having rigorously examined the Board’s Decision and the evidence with anxious scrutiny, this court is satisfied that the Board had correctly set out the law and key legal principles relating to the applicable grounds under the USM, the burden of proof and the standard of proof. The Board also correctly identified the issues and observed a very high standard of fairness. This court could detect no error of law, procedural unfairness or irrationality in the Board’s Decision. The Board’s Decision does satisfy the enhanced Wednesbury test, ie it is not Wednesbury unreasonable or irrational for the Board to reach its decision.

23.As held by the Court of Final Appeal in Po Fun Chan v Winnie Cheung (2007) 10 HKCFAR 676, for the court to grant leave to apply for judicial review, the claim has to be a reasonably arguable claim which enjoys realistic prospects of success. It is the view of this court that the applicant has failed to establish such a claim and hence leave must be refused.

Conclusion

24.For reasons aforesaid, the Leave Application is dismissed.

Dated the 10^th day of June 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