NGUYEN THI KHANH HOA v. DIRECTOR OF IMMIGRATION [Decision on Leave Application]
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HCAL 2792/2025
[2026] HKCFI 1172
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST No. 2792 of 2025
BETWEEN | ||
| Nguyen Thi Khanh Hoa | Applicant | |
| and | ||
| Director of Immigration | Putative | |
| Respondent | ||
Application for Leave to Apply for Judicial Review
NOTIFICATION of the Judge’s decision (Ord. 53 r. 3)
Following;
| consideration of documents only; or | |
| consideration of documents and Applicant being absent in open court; |
Order by Deputy High Court JudgeK. W. Lung:
1. Leave to apply for Judicial Review be dismissed; and
2. Any hearing for this case be vacated.
Observation for the Applicant:
1. The applicant was an illegal immigrant. She had raised non-refoulement claim to the Director of Immigration (“the Director”) on the basis that, if refouled, fear that, if refouled, she will be harmed or killed by her enemies. The Director refused her claim. she appealed to the Torture Claims Appeal Board/Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office (“the Board”) The Board dismissed her appeal.
2. The applicant filed Form 86 on 18 December 2025 to apply for leave to apply for judicial review of the Director’s Decision.
3. The Court received a letter dated 10 February 2026, in which the Immigration Department informed the Court that the applicant was repatriated on 19 January 2026, which means the applicant has already left Hong Kong.
4. Section 37ZF of the Ordinance provides, inter alia,
“Deemed withdrawal of torture claim on claimant’s departure
(1) A torture claim (whether a claim pending final determination or a substantiated claim) made by a claimant who is subject or liable to removal must be treated as withdrawn if the claimant (for whatever reason) leaves Hong Kong.”
5. Final determination includes the judicial review proceedings[1].
6. There is nothing outstanding in this action. The Court will refuse to grant the relief as it will serve no practical purpose since the applicant has returned to her country[2]. For case management, this application should be dismissed.
7. The application is dismissed. Any hearing for this case be vacated.
8. A copy of this decision shall be sent to the applicants’ last known address in Hong Kong as contained in the court record[3].
Dated the 3rd day of March 2026
| (Allen LEE) 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 Applicants: 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 3/3/2026 Nguyen Thi Khanh Hoa 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 3/3/2026 Director of Immigration Putative Respondent’s ref. no.: L/M (34298) in ImmD RA 7/37/C Department of Justice, Senior Assistant Law Officer (Civil Law) (Civil Litigation Unit 2) |
Form CALL-1
[1] The Court of Appeal in Re: Aioub Ali[2019] HKCA 1329. Hon Lam VP (as he then was), Wong and S T Poon, 2 December 2019, held:
“16. Under Section 23(4) of Schedule 1A of the Immigration Ordinance, the decision of the Board is final. Final means final in terms of administrative process. However, such statutory provision does not exclude judicial review. In a judicial review, the court will process the matter by examining if there is public law ground to warrant intervention as discussed in [13(1)] above.”
[2] The Court of Appeal in AW v Director of Immigration and William Lam CACV 63/2015, Hon Lam VP, Kwan and Poon JJA (as they then were), 3 November 2015 held:
“ 67. It is well established that the court may exercise discretion not to grant a remedy on judicial review if it would serve no practical purpose, where it may have become otiose or pointless to grant a remedy because the relevant detriment to the applicant has been removed (De Smith’s Judicial Review (7th ed) at §§18-054 to 18-056; Judicial Review by Supperstone, Goudie and Walker (5th ed) at §18.18.1).”
[3] The Court of Appeal in Re Tran Trong Dai[2025] HKCA 1116, Hon Chu VP and Barma JA, 23 December 2025 held:
“20. By a fax which reached the Court on 30 October 2025, the Director informed the Court that the applicant had been repatriated to Vietnam on 19 June 2025. As the Court has not been provided with the applicant’s address in the Vietnam, a copy of this judgment will be sent to the applicant’s last known address in Hong Kong as contained in the court record.”