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We're pleased to present this month's collection of newly reported cases covering various practice areas, including criminal law, civil procedure, criminal procedure and more. Each case includes catchwords...
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We're pleased to present this month's collection of newly reported cases covering various practice areas, including criminal law, civil procedure, administrative law and more. Each case includes catchwords...
We're pleased to present this month's collection of newly reported cases covering various practice areas, including criminal law, civil procedure, criminal procedure and more. Each case includes catchwords highlighting key legal issues.
All cases are linked to Lexis+® Hong Kong. Please log in to the platform to ensure a consistent experience before accessing the links.
New cases reported in HKC October 2025:
Civil Procedure
Court: COURT OF APPEAL
Judges: Hon G Lam and Chow JJA in Court
CACV 178/2021; [2025] HKCA 646
Dates of Written Submissions: 6, 20 and 27 May 2025, 17 July 2025
| Key Legal Issues | Appeal — Admissibility of new evidence — Pre-trial new evidence — Ladd v Marshall conditions — Post-trial new evidence — Judgment and factual finding of another court in earlier proceedings — Rules of the High Court (Cap 4A) O 59 r 10(2) |
LAM PO YEE v YU SHUI MUI (余水梅) [2025] 5 HKC 501; [2025] HKCU 3588; [2025] HKCFI 2734
Court: COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
Judge: Hon K Yeung J in Chambers
HCA 2092/2024; [2025] HKCFI 2734
Date of Hearing: 19 June 2025, 14 July 2025
| Key Legal Issues | Security for costs — Plaintiff having stated incorrect address on writ of summons — Whether misstatement made innocently and without intention to deceive — Rules of the High Court (Cap 4A) O 6 r 5 |
Court: DISTRICT COURT
Judge: Deputy District Judge J. Remedios in Chambers
DCMP 787/2025; [2025] HKDC 1251
Date of Hearing: 7 May 2025, Date of Plaintiff’s further written submissions: 13 May 2025, 31 July 2025
| Key Legal Issues | Discovery — Norwich pharmacal relief — District Court’s jurisdiction to grant Norwich Pharmacal orders — Statutory jurisdiction on pre-action discovery — Inherent jurisdiction — Implied jurisdiction — Whether order sought imprecise — District Court Ordinance (Cap 336) ss 3, 47A, 47B, 48, 52 — Rules of the District Court (Cap 336H) O 24 r 7A |
Court: COURT OF APPEAL
Judges: Hon Kwan VP, Cheung JA and Barma JA in Court
CACV 322/2021; [2025] HKCA 720
Date of Written Submissions: 9 May 2025 (revised on 13 June 2025), 1 August 2025
| Key Legal Issues | Employees’ compensation — Costs — Interlocutory applications — No legal aid taxation order — Procedural requirements relating to wasted costs orders — Legal aid taxation — Procedural fairness — District Court Ordinance (Cap 336) ss 53(3), (4), (5), 63(3) — Rules of the District Court (Cap 336H) O 22 r 21(1); O 62 rr 8(3), (5), 8B(1) |
Criminal Procedure
HKSAR v LAI KAN-YAU (黎謹友) [2025] 5 HKC 839; [2025] HKCU 3985; [2025] HKCA 719
Court: COURT OF APPEAL
Judges: Hon Macrae Acting CJHC, Zervos and M Poon JJA in Court
CACC 177/2021; [2025] HKCA 719
Dates of Hearing: 13 and 14 January 2025, 31 July 2025
| Key Legal Issues |
Murder — Summing-up to jury — Direction on post-offence conduct — Whether special warning required — ‘Proper use caution’ — ‘No probative value’ direction — Flagrant incompetence of trial counsel and solicitors — Whether material irregularity in lies direction where accused did not lie — Admission of fresh evidence — Missing telephone call at trial — Whether proviso should be applied — Appellant’s partial responsibility — Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Cap 221) ss 83(1), 83V Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap 32) s 327(1), (3) |
Courts and Judicial System/ Guarantee
Court: COURT OF APPEAL
Judges: Hon Kwan VP, Chow JA and Leung J in Court
CACV 8/2024; [2025] HKCA 730
Date of Hearing: 25 July 2025, 6 August 2025
| Key Legal Issues |
Courts and Judicial System — Trial — Unrepresented litigants acting in person — Judge’s approach to trial with self-represented litigants necessarily turned on facts and circumstances of each case — Right to cross-examination — Whether judge failed to give litigants acting in person explanation, advice, assistance and guidance on procedural and substantive aspects of the case — Whether judge put undue pressure on litigants acting in person causing them to abandon their defence — Whether judge wrongly refused defendants’ request to cross-examine plaintiff when ruling that trial would not involve oral evidence — Fairness of trial Guarantees and Indemnities — Guarantees — Loan agreement — Enforcement — Defence that loans and guarantees were sham — Defence that loans unenforceable as being contrary to Money Lender Ordinance — Whether defendant validly abandoned defence alleging shams — Fair trial |
Family Law
AA v BB [2025] 5 HKC 618; [2025] HKCU 4129; [2025] HKFC 128
Court: DISTRICT COURT
Judges: District Judge LJ Cruden in Chambers (Not Open to Public)
FCMC 41/2022; [2025] HKFC 128
Date of submissions: Petitioner 22 May 2025, Respondent 5 June 2025, 22 July 2025
| Key Legal Issues | Divorce — Ancillary relief — Publication of judgment — Open justice — Anonymisation — Redaction of sensitive information — Whether publication should be withheld |
Court: DISTRICT COURT
Judge: His Honour Judge I Wong in Chambers (Not Open to Public)
FCMC 3640 /2024; [2025] HKFC 123
Date of Hearing: 30 May 2025, 14 July 2025
| Key Legal Issues | Family Law — Divorce — Ancillary relief — Crossley application — Reliance on separation agreement — Basis — Whether husband required to file Form E instead |
Legal Practitioner
Court: COURT OF APPEAL
Judges: Hon Kwan VP, Barma JA and G Lam JA in Court
CACV 189/2023; [2025] HKCA 676
Date of Hearing:10 July 2025, 22 July 2025
| Key Legal Issues |
Solicitors — Disciplinary proceedings — Professional misconduct — Allowing clerks to arrange for files of clients of another firm to be transferred to own firm without express consent — Influencing termination of retainers with other firm — Admissibility of statements of clients — Hearsay — Right to cross-examine in disciplinary proceedings — Relief — Remitter — Evidence Ordinance (Cap 8) s 47(1) — Legal Practitioners Ordinance (Cap 159) s 2(2) — Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal Proceedings Rules (Cap 159C) rr 14, 35 — Solicitors Practice Rules (Cap 159H) r 2(a), (b), (d) |
Human Rights/ Family Law
K v SECRETARY FOR ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY AND ANOTHER [2025] 5 HKC 672 [2025] HKCFI 3170 [2025] HKCU 3799
Court: COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
Judge: Hon Coleman J in Court
HCAL 646/2022; [2025] HKCFI 3170
Dates of Hearing: 12-13 January 2023, Dates of Further Written Submissions: 6 and 22 March 2023, 23 July 2025
| Key Legal Issues | Non-discrimination — Sexual orientation — Public conveniences — Segregation of sexes — Enforcement through criminal offence — Female-to-male transgender person having medical need to undergo real life experience by using men’s public toilets — Whether prohibition against using public toilets allocated for male persons violation of equality before the law and protection of privacy — Relief — Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region art 25 — Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance (Cap 383) arts 1(1), 14, 22 — Public Conveniences (Conduct and Behaviour) Regulation (Cap 132BL) ss 7, 9, 10 |
DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL WELFARE v LPK [2025] 5 HKC 779; [2025] HKCU 5071; [2025] HKCFI 3344
Court: COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
Judge: Hon Au-Yeung J in Chambers (Not Open to the Public)
HCAD 26/2022, HCAD 27/2022, HCAD 19/2023, HCAD 20/2023, HCAD 21/2023, HCAD 33/2023 & HCAD 34/2023; [2025] HKCFI 3344
Date of Hearing: 17 January 2025, 31 July 2025
| Key Legal Issues |
Human Rights — Privacy — Protection of family — Siblings — Whether protection engaged — Biological relationships alone insufficient to give rise to protectable family life — Demonstrable interest in and commitment to family life — Siblings all taken into care after birth with near non-existent knowledge and contact with each other — Arrangement for freeing for adoption and planning for adoption restricting sibling contact — Whether justifiable — Best interests of child — Prescribed by law — Proportionality — Adoption Ordinance (Cap 290) s 5A(4) — Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance (Cap 383) arts 14, 19 Family Law — Adoption — Freeing orders — Right of children to have access to siblings — Whether fundamental rights engaged Prescribed by law — Safeguard — Care plan — Placement choices — Whether restriction on sibling contact justifiable |
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