RV v. Director of Immigration and Secretary for Justice

Abstract

Aliens — Claim for refugee status — Convention on the Status of Refugees, 1951 — Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1984 — Applicant asylum seeker and torture claimant — Applicant entering Hong Kong on false passport — Secretary for Justice instituting criminal proceedings against applicant — Whether decisions of Secretary for Justice to prosecute applicant subject to judicial review — Hong Kong’s Basic Law — Duties of courts in respect of new constitutional order in Hong Kong — Whether decisions of Secretary for Justice lawful — Whether decisions contradicting Secretary for Justice’s own prosecution policy — Whether decisions undermining applicant’s rights to seek asylum and protection from torture

Relationship of international law and municipal law — Convention on the Status of Refugees, 1951 — Applicability — Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1984 — Customary international law — Applicant asylum seeker and torture claimant — Obligations of Hong Kong — Whether Hong Kong undertaking never to prosecute claimant entering Hong Kong illegally — The law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region