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Where, on the face of the application for leave to appeal, read in the light of the
(usually) two judgments below, there is no reasonable basis for the grant of leave, the
procedure under rule 7 of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Rules may be
invoked. The Registrar acts as a filter against such wholly unfounded applications
and, if of the opinion that the case falls within rule 7, affords the applicant a final
opportunity to demonstrate in writing why the application should not be summarily
dismissed. The application papers are then placed before the Appeal Committee, with
any further written representations of the applicant filed in response to the Registrar's
summons. If the Committee is unanimous that the application is without any
reasonable basis (within the meaning of the applicable rules), it dismisses it on the
papers and without an oral hearing, publishing its decision on the notice board in the
Court's precincts and serving its order on the applicant. In the light of the prior
history of the proceedings and of the Registrar's summons setting the context for such
a summary dismissal, reasons are dispensed with since the dismissal is self-evidently
based on the Appeal Committee being satisfied that it is not reasonably arguable that
the application meets the limited criteria for granting leave. If, on the other hand,
having seen the papers, the Appeal Committee considers the application to be
arguable, a leave application is listed for oral hearing in the usual way.
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