A High Court judge has breathed hope into a Filipina
asylum-seeker’s bid to overturn a Torture
Claims Appeal Board decision rejecting her application for non-refoulement.
Judge Amanda Woodcock, summarizing Marierol M. Puno’s
application, said she would consider the applicant’s reasons for seeking a
judicial review.
“You said the Torture Claim Appeals Board did not grant your
appeal hearing and you didn’t get a letter asking you to make a submission,”
the judge said. She added that did not reflect a high standard of court
service.
Puno had said the board failed to consider
relevant information; did not show cultural sensitivity; did not take into
account actual conditions in the Philippines and the abuses that were happening
there.
Puno brought her baby boy to the courtroom and was told by
Woodcock to either sit down or carry the baby standing “to keep him under
control”.
The judge said she would consider Puno’s reasons. “When I’ve
made my decision, I will send you a letter,” she told the applicant.
Also seeking a judicial review of a TCAB ruling on her
application on Mar 6 was Emilyn Mapili, whose earlier application for leave to
appeal was rejected by the High Court on the ground that her reasons were not
convincing.
Woodcock questioned Mapili for several minutes about her compliance
with court instructions following the hearing on her latest application in
October last year.
The judge said she wrote the applicant on Dec 19 telling her
about her leave to appeal. In that letter, Woodcock said, she was telling Mapili
to offer reasons for her application. But, instead of complying, the Filipina
went to Legal Aid, the judge said.
Mapili replied that she received the judge’s letter only a
day after she had approached Legal Aid because she had an application for bail.
She showed the pink card that signified she had a pending application and other
details.
But Woodcock told the Filipina the date on the pink card was
Dec 20. “Why did it take you two months before filing this leave to appeal?”
the judge asked.
Mapili said she could not understand the instructions so she asked her boyfriend, a certain Ershad Muhamad, to help her fill up the
application form. She said the man had told her to wait two months before
submitting the form.
Woodcock said she was holding her decision in reserve and
inform the applicant by mail about her ruling.
