Dear Sir/ Madam,
I refer to your request for Access to Information on 23 February 2022. Having consulted
relevant parties, the requested information is provided as follows –
Generally speaking, all non-refoulement claimants under the Unified Screening Mechanism
will be provided with publicly-funded legal assistance (PFLA) at the beginning of the screening
stage by the Immigration Department (ImmD) and they are free to choose whether to receive
the service. As for the appeal stage, the provision of PFLA depends on the merits assessment
by the lawyer providing PFLA to the claimant at the screening stage, taking into account the
written decision by ImmD on the claim with detailed reasons.
(1) The number of appeals/ petitions received by the Torture Claims Appeal Board (TCAB)
and were legally represented by lawyers from PFLA in Q4 2021 is as below -
No. of appeals/ petitions
No. of appeals/ petitions
legally represented by
received by TCAB
lawyers from PFLA
(a)
(b)
Q4 2021
725
25
(2)-(4) The number of appeals/ petitions concluded by TCAB with legal representation under
PFLA and of those against ImmD’s decision substantiated by TCAB in Q4 2021 is as below -
No. of appeals/
Out of (a), no. of
Out of (b), no. of
Out of (c), no. of appeals/
petitions
appeals/ petitions
appeals/ petitions
petitions against ImmD’s
concluded by
legally represented
substantiated by
decision of -
TCAB
by lawyers from
TCAB
(a)
PFLA
(c)
rejecting the rejecting to
(b)
claims
re-open the
(d)
claims
(e)
Q4 2021
337
34
2
2
0
(5)-(6) The number of people who were being declined for the provision of PFLA and
requested a second opinion or review after not being provided with PFLA based on the
assessment of the lawyer at the appeal stage in Q4 2021 is as below-
No. of people requested a
No. of people who were being
second opinion or review
declined for the provision of after not being provided with
PFLA
PFLA
(a)
(b)
Q4 2021
765
23
(7) For those who requested a second opinion or review, the number of people who were
subsequently provided with PFLA at the appeal stage based on the assessment of another
lawyer in Q4 2021 is as below-
Out of (a), no. of people who
No. of people requested a
were subsequently provided
second opinion or review
with PFLA
(a)
(b)
Q4 2021
23
8
Security Bureau