WONG CHUN KEI JOHNNY AND OTHERS v. POON VAI CHING AND OTHERS

WONG CHUN KEI JOHNNY AND OTHERS v. POON VAI CHING AND OTHERS

Although sale would produce higher pecuniary returns for plaintiffs, the court must balance pecuniary benefit against objective detriment to co-owners; where co-owners can unshackle themselves by individual alienation and where forced sale would cause very great hardship (notably eviction of occupying owners with no other home), the court should exercise s2(c) power to refuse to make any order. On these facts the hardship to occupying defendants outweighed the pecuniary advantage to plaintiffs, so the summons was dismissed and no order for sale made.

Citation
WONG CHUN KEI JOHNNY AND OTHERS v. POON VAI CHING AND OTHERS
Parties
1st Plaintiff: WONG CHUN KEI JOHNNY; 2nd Plaintiff: LOONG HONG PING HERBERT AND LOONG SOOK CHING MARY; 3rd Plaintiff: WONG FUNG YEE; 4th Plaintiff: MAK CHUN WAH DAVID; 5th Plaintiff: TEAM LEADERS LIMITED; 6th Plaintiff: SHIU LAI WAH; 7th Plaintiff: DAI YU-VIEN EVENS AND CHIANG CHENG LING; 8th Plaintiff: GRAHAM SCOTT-BURGE AND CHOW CHUN LAI; 9th Plaintiff: CHASE CREATE DEVELOPMENT LIMITED; 1st Defendant: POON VAI CHING, EXECUTRIX OF THE ESTATE OF POON KAM CHUEN, DECEASED; 2nd Defendant: CORNERSTONE INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION (HK) LIMITED; 3rd Defendant: KWAI HUNG REALTY COMPANY LIMITED
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
6 January 2005
Case Number
HCMP4322/2002
Procedural Posture
Partition Ordinance Application for Sale of Multi Owned Flats (hcmp4322/2002) / Judgment (court of First Instance)
Outcome
Originating Summons dismissed; court exercised jurisdiction under section 2(c) of the Partition Ordinance to refuse to make any order for partition or sale.
Legal Topics
Order for Sale Under Partition Ordinance, Partition Vs Sale, Deed of Mutual Covenant, Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment, Assessment of Hardship and Benefit
Source Language
EN
Property Law Civil Procedure Land Law Building and Maintenance Law Order for Sale Under Partition Ordinance Partition Vs Sale Deed of Mutual Covenant Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment +1 more

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Parties

WONG CHUN KEI JOHNNY

1st Plaintiff

LOONG HONG PING HERBERT AND LOONG SOOK CHING MARY

2nd Plaintiff

WONG FUNG YEE

3rd Plaintiff

MAK CHUN WAH DAVID

4th Plaintiff

TEAM LEADERS LIMITED

5th Plaintiff

SHIU LAI WAH

6th Plaintiff

DAI YU-VIEN EVENS AND CHIANG CHENG LING

7th Plaintiff

GRAHAM SCOTT-BURGE AND CHOW CHUN LAI

8th Plaintiff

CHASE CREATE DEVELOPMENT LIMITED

9th Plaintiff

POON VAI CHING, EXECUTRIX OF THE ESTATE OF POON KAM CHUEN, DECEASED

1st Defendant

CORNERSTONE INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION (HK) LIMITED

2nd Defendant

KWAI HUNG REALTY COMPANY LIMITED

3rd Defendant

Procedural Posture

Partition Ordinance Application for Sale of Multi Owned Flats (hcmp4322/2002) / Judgment (court of First Instance)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether court should order sale under section 6(1) or 6(3) of the Partition Ordinance
  2. 2 Whether partition under s4(1) is practicable having regard to s4(2)
  3. 3 Whether sale would be beneficial to all co-owners or would cause very great hardship to some

Ratio Decidendi

Although sale would produce higher pecuniary returns for plaintiffs, the court must balance pecuniary benefit against objective detriment to co-owners; where co-owners can unshackle themselves by individual alienation and where forced sale would cause very great hardship (notably eviction of occupying owners with no other home), the court should exercise s2(c) power to refuse to make any order. On these facts the hardship to occupying defendants outweighed the pecuniary advantage to plaintiffs, so the summons was dismissed and no order for sale made.

Court Disposition

Originating Summons dismissed; court exercised jurisdiction under section 2(c) of the Partition Ordinance to refuse to make any order for partition or sale.

Orders

  • Originating Summons dismissed
  • Costs of the Originating Summons to be paid by the plaintiffs to the defendants, to be taxed if not agreed