Pham Van Dung v. Torture Claims Appeal Board

CACV 1026/2025, [2026] HKCA 1624

On Appeal From [2025] HKCFI 5095

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

CIVIL APPEAL NO 1026 OF 2025

(ON APPEAL FROM HCAL NO 3510 OF 2019)

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J U D G M E N T

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Hon Eugene Fung J (giving the Judgment of the Court):

1.This is an application for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal (“CFA”).  The applicant is a Vietnamese national whose claim for non-refoulement protection in Hong Kong was rejected by the Director of Immigration and by the Torture Claims Appeal Board/Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office (“Board”).  His application for leave to apply for judicial review of the Board’s decision was dismissed by the Court of First Instance.  His appeal against that decision was dismissed by this Court in our judgment dated 13 February 2026.

2.By Notice of Motion filed on 3 March 2026, the applicant sought leave to appeal against our judgment to the CFA.  In that document, the applicant stated that he would be tortured or killed by the creditor and some gangsters if refouled, that internal relocation would not be feasible, that the gangsters would be able to locate him anywhere in Vietnam, and that the Director did not consider his human rights.  

3.The applicant lodged written submissions which were received by the court on 9 March 2026.  Those submissions merely recited general legal principles of fairness and Wednesbury unreasonableness.  He also stated that the Director did not consider his human rights.  

4.There is no reason for us to depart from the usual practice of determining an application for leave to appeal on the basis of the available materials without an oral hearing, as set out in paragraph 3 of Practice Direction 2.1.

5.We take the view that this application ought to be dismissed because the applicant has not shown that the intended appeal raises any question which, by reason of its great general or public importance, or otherwise, ought to be submitted to the CFA for decision (which is the condition for giving leave to appeal under section 22(1)(b) of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance, Cap 484), and also because he has failed to show any prospects of success in the intended appeal.

6.Accordingly, the Notice of Motion is dismissed.

The Applicant, unrepresented, acting in person