Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal simplifies and clarifies the law on legal advice privilege
Richard Hudson
In a further sign of the Hong Kong Court’s commitment to upholding the concept of legal professional privilege (“LPP”), the Court of Appeal’s 29 June 2015 judgment in Citic Pacific Limited v Secretary for Justice & Commissioner of Police has provided welcome clarification in relation to the definition of the “client” for the purpose of legal advice privilege and has roundly rejected the more restrictive approach taken by the English Court of Appeal in the controversial Three Rivers (No 5) decision [2003] QB 1556. Full article »
Beware differences in law of supervisory court and court of enforcement when enforcing arbitration award
KK Cheung
The recent case of 樓外樓房地產咨詢有限公司 對 何志蘭 (HCMP 3202/2013) concerned two Mainland arbitral awards made by the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission against a Ms Ho, under which she was ordered to pay certain amounts to the Respondents (the purchaser and real estate agent respectively) for having breached a sale and purchase agreement in respect of a property in Guangzhou. Full article »
Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Ordinance to come into effect 1 January 2016
Karen Dicks
The new Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Ordinance will come into effect on 1 January 2016. Details of the changes to be brought in by the Ordinance, can be found in our previous articles of 20 February 2013, 9 January 2015 and 12 February 2015.
Arbitral Award set aside by Hong Kong Court for breach of due process
Genevieve Lam
In China Property Development (Holdings) Ltd v Mandecly Limited & Others HCCT53/2010, Hong Kong’s High Court (Court of First Instance) set aside part of an arbitral award on the basis of serious breach of due process, namely that the Applicant had not been able to present its case. Full article »
Court of First Instance grants injunction restraining reliance on privileged expert reports which had been provided by mistake by the other side
Richard Hudson, Benjamin Ng
In the recent Court of First Instance decision of Koay Ai See v St. Teresa’s Hospital and others, an injunction was granted restraining the Defendants from relying on privileged expert reports which had been obtained by the Plaintiff and provided inadvertently to the Defendants in the course of discovery. Full article »
The Collection and Use of Personal Data Via Mobile App Under the Person Data (Privacy) Ordinance
Jean Lau
In November 2014, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (“PCPD”) published the “Best Practice Guide for Mobile App Development” and in December 2014 the PCPD published the “Guidance Note on Personal Data Protection in Cross-border Data Transfer”. Given the increasing use of mobile apps (i.e. software applications developed specifically for use on mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets) to obtain personal data, data users face new challenges in relation to compliance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, Cap. 486 (“PDPO”). Full article »
Interim relief in aid of foreign proceedings
Lorraine Lee
Prior to the Introduction of Civil Justice Reforms in Hong Kong on 2 April 2009, the ability of a foreign plaintiff to obtain interim relief in Hong Kong in aid of foreign proceedings was limited by reason of the Privy Council’s decision in Mercedes Benz AG v Leiduck [1996] 1 AC 284 which held that unless there was jurisdiction to obtain substantive relief in Hong Kong, a plaintiff in foreign proceedings could not obtain interim relief to protect any of the defendant’s assets that may be located in Hong Kong. Full article »
Hong Kong’s Competition Ordinance to come into full effect on 14 December 2015
Karen Dicks
Hong Kong’s new Competition Ordinance will come into full effect on 14 December 2015. We have written a number of previous articles about the new Ordinance. The following article contains an outline of the provisions, implications for clients and steps that should be taken to prepare for the same: Hong Kong’s New Competition Ordinance (23 August 2012).