CONFIDENTIAL
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(b) Nine Vietnamese who had been screened out brought cases for judicial review of the decision of the Refugee
Status Review Board on their status. The first succeeded in
having the decision of the Board quashed, on the ground
that it had made a material error of fact. The other eight
cases have not yet been heard. A further 100 similar cases are being considered for legal aid.
(c) A case of judicial review has been brought in connection with the move of a group of Vietnamese, who had
been picked out as trouble makers, from one camp to
another.
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Content of the proposed amendments
7.
Legal Advisers have produced a summary of the proposed amendments to the Immigration Ordinance. They are designed to protect the Hong Kong Government from further legal challenges relating to the legality or length of detention and the transfer of detainees between centres and to ensure that where judicial proceedings are brought, the special circumstances in which Vietnamese boat people are detained can be taken into account by the courts. The amendments would also remove the scope for detainees to appeal to an independent body against transfer and would prevent judicial review of the whole decision making process of the Refugee
Status Review Board.
8.
These amendments do not represent a change in
Hong Kong's policy, but are intended to protect existing practice from further legal challenge. Legal Advisers consider that some of the proposed amendments slightly increase the likelihood that the Ordinance could be found in breach of the ICCPR (and hence that HMG would be in breach of the ICCPR), while others are a slight improvement.
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CONFIDENTIAL
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