Vallejos v Commissioner of Registration
Vallejos and Daniel Domingo appealed their cases to the Court of Final Appeal, and were respectively assigned the case numbers FACV 19 and 20/2012. They would be represented before the CFA by Michael Fordham; David Pannick continued to represent the Government. Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma rejected a further application for joinder by eight-year-old Liang Wing-ki, the Hong Kong-born daughter of mainland parents, whose next friend, mother Li Yinxian, filed suit on her behalf. Philip Dykes, for the applicant, argued that because Vallejos and Domingo's case would touch on issues of interpretation of the Basic Law under Article 158, Liang's interests would also be affected. In rejecting Liang's application, Ma stated: "We feel that the points you seem to argue are adequately covered and will be adequately covered". Liang and other Hong Kong-born children like her were ruled to be entitled to the right of abode in Hong Kong in the 2001 case "Director of Immigration v. Chong Fung Yuen".
Krivenko v Register of Deeds
During the pendency of the appeal, a new circular by the Department of Justice was released, instructing all registers of deeds to accept for registration all transfers of residential lots to aliens. With the effect of the circular swaying in his favor, Krivenko thereafter filed a motion to withdraw his appeal. However, the Supreme Court deemed it best to exercise its discretionary powers and denied Krivenko’s appeal, in order to tackle the more pressing constitutional issue; and in the process, established itself as a landmark case with regard to foreign ownership of lands in the Philippines.