Notices of appeal filed with the Torture Claims Appeal Board

Annie Li made this Freedom of Information request to Security Bureau

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Dear Security Bureau,

I am writing to request data about notices of appeal filed with of the Torture Claims Appeal Board (TCAB). I would like to have the following data:

(i) Number of notices of appeal filed with the TCAB out of time (i.e. beyond the 14-day period) in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively;

(ii) Number of applications made for late filing of a notice of appeal to the TCAB under s. 37ZT of the Immigration Ordinance in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively;

(iii) Of those at (ii), the number of non-refoulement claimants that had legal representation at the time of making the application for late filing of a notice of appeal and the number of those who did not in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Regards,
Annie Li
Research and Policy Officer
Justice Centre Hong Kong

Security Bureau

Dear Ms Li,

I refer to your application for access to information dated 28 May 2018.

We are processing your application and shall let you have a substantive
reply as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,
Theresa Lee
for Secretary for Security

Security Bureau

Dear Ms Li,

I refer to your request of 28.5.2018 for providing information on the
notices of appeal ("NOA") filed with the Torture Claims Appeal Board
("TCAB").  Our reply is given below, please -

(i)         Number of NOA filed with the TCAB out of time (i.e. beyond the
14-day period) in 2016, 2017 and 2018
(ii)         Number of applications made for late filing of a NOA to the
TCAB under section 37ZT of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115) in 2016,
2017 and 2018

Section 37ZT of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115) provides that if a
notice of appeal is filed after the expiry of the 14-day period, it must
include an application for late filing of the notice.  Since the
application for late filing of NOA is included in the NOA, the NOA and
application for late filing of the NOA will have to be filed in one go.
 Number of NOAs filed out of time and related applications for late filing
of NOA are as follows:

2016:  270
2017:  780
2018 (up to May):  169

(iii)        Of those at (ii), the number of non-refoulement claimants
that had legal representation at the time of making the application for
late filing of a NOA and the number of those who did not in 2016, 2017 and
2018
 
        At present, about 1% of appellants/petitioners who filed NOAs out
of time have legal representation.

Regards,
Theresa Lee
for Security Bureau

Dear Ms Lee,

Thank you for your reply and the data. For part (iii) of my original request, I would like to know the exact number of claimants who did not have legal representation in 2016, 2017 and 2018 (up to May for 2018) respectively.

I would also like to know the number of the applications for the late filing of the notices of appeal granted by the Torture Claims Appeal Board in 2016, 2017 and 2018 (up to May for 2018) respectively.

Regards,
Annie Li
Research and Policy Officer
Justice Centre Hong Kong

Security Bureau

Dear Ms Li,

I refer to your email of 1.8.2018 seeking information on applications for
late filing of notices of appeal/petition ("NOA").  Our reply is given
below, please -

Number of appellants/petitioners who have filed applications for late
filing of NOA and have legal representation:

2016:  1
2017:  10
2018 (up to May):  4

Number of applications for late filing of NOA allowed:

2016:  59
2017:  139
2018 (up to May): 66

Regards,
Theresa Lee
for Security Bureau

Dear Ms Lee,
Thank you for your reply and the data.
Regards,
Annie Li
Research and Policy Officer
Justice Centre Hong Kong