GUANGZHOU GREEN-ENHAN BIO-ENGINEERING CO LTD AND ANOTHER v. GREEN POWER HEALTH PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL CO LTD AND OTHERS

GUANGZHOU GREEN-ENHAN BIO-ENGINEERING CO LTD AND ANOTHER v. GREEN POWER HEALTH PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL CO LTD AND OTHERS

Expert evidence on PRC law was excluded because the issues for which the experts were proffered had already been decided by the PRC Intermediate Peoples Court; where a foreign court has directly decided an issue the Hong Kong court should not admit expert evidence to re-litigate that point, and a pending appeal of the foreign judgment does not justify admitting such evidence in Hong Kong.

Citation
GUANGZHOU GREEN-ENHAN BIO-ENGINEERING CO LTD AND ANOTHER v. GREEN POWER HEALTH PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL CO LTD AND OTHERS
Parties
1st Plaintiff: Guangzhou Green-Enhan Bio-Engineering Co. Ltd; 1st Defendant: 1st Defendant; 2nd Defendant: 2nd Defendant
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
16 September 2004
Case Number
HCA4651/2002
Procedural Posture
Civil Action (court of First Instance) / Ruling on Admissibility of Expert Evidence on PRC Law (pre Trial / Interlocutory Ruling)
Outcome
Application to adduce expert evidence on PRC law excluded
Legal Topics
Expert Evidence on Foreign Law, Admissibility of Evidence, Effect of Foreign Judgments, Issue Estoppel, Judicial Comity
Source Language
EN
Evidence Civil Procedure Private International Law Expert Evidence on Foreign Law Admissibility of Evidence Effect of Foreign Judgments Issue Estoppel Judicial Comity

Case Brief

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Parties

Guangzhou Green-Enhan Bio-Engineering Co. Ltd

1st Plaintiff

1st Defendant

1st Defendant

2nd Defendant

2nd Defendant

Procedural Posture

Civil Action (court of First Instance) / Ruling on Admissibility of Expert Evidence on PRC Law (pre Trial / Interlocutory Ruling)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether expert evidence on PRC law is admissible where a PRC Intermediate People's Court judgment has determined the same issues
  2. 2 Scope and proper function of expert witnesses on foreign law
  3. 3 Whether a pending appeal of the foreign judgment justifies admission of expert evidence in Hong Kong

Ratio Decidendi

Expert evidence on PRC law was excluded because the issues for which the experts were proffered had already been decided by the PRC Intermediate Peoples Court; where a foreign court has directly decided an issue the Hong Kong court should not admit expert evidence to re-litigate that point, and a pending appeal of the foreign judgment does not justify admitting such evidence in Hong Kong.

Court Disposition

Application to adduce expert evidence on PRC law excluded

Orders

  • Expert evidence on PRC law on issues decided by the PRC Intermediate Peoples Court is excluded (order given 21 August 2004).