Appeals 'unjust'

The proposed appeals system for mainlanders refused abode in Hong Kong stripped them of their right to justice, it was claimed yesterday.

The Government is proposing that appeals against refusals to grant a certificate of entitlement - the document needed to prove right of abode - be heard in the absence of the applicant.

But non-affiliated legislator Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee said this would breach natural justice.

'I find it hard to imagine how an applicant can be heard in absence and natural justice still be done . . . the tribunal is a tribunal of fact, not a court of law,' said Miss Ng, chairwoman of a Legco panel studying the Immigration (Amendment) Regulation 1999.

The Government promised to review the proposal.