LEUNG CHUNG PUN v. MASTERWISE INTERNATIONAL LTD AND OTHERS

LEUNG CHUNG PUN v. MASTERWISE INTERNATIONAL LTD AND OTHERS

The court's power under s152FA extends only to documents owned by or belonging to the specified corporation; because the plaintiff did not establish that the outstanding documents belonged to Masterwise, they were not part of Masterwise's records for s152FA and Masterwise was not required to produce them under the Inspection Order.

Citation
LEUNG CHUNG PUN v. MASTERWISE INTERNATIONAL LTD AND OTHERS
Parties
1st Plaintiff: Leung Chung Pun; 1st Defendant: Masterwise International Limited; 2nd Defendant: Leung Chung Po; 3rd Defendant: Leung Chung Lam; 4th Defendant: Lam Kit Bing Isabella
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
12 April 2016
Case Number
HCMP2681/2012
Procedural Posture
Interlocutory Application Under Companies Ordinance (inspection of Records) / Decision on Summons (chambers)
Outcome
Order made that Masterwise is not required to produce the outstanding documents specified in the Inspection Order (save for item 3.7); order nisi that there be no order as to costs.
Legal Topics
Section 152 FA Companies Ordinance, Inspection of Corporate Records, Ownership Vs Possession of Corporate Documents, PRC Companies Law Articles 33 and 46, Abuse of Process, Costs
Source Language
EN
Company Law Civil Procedure Conflict of Laws (prc Law) Evidence (expert Evidence) Section 152 FA Companies Ordinance Inspection of Corporate Records Ownership Vs Possession of Corporate Documents PRC Companies Law Articles 33 and 46 +2 more

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 5 Authorities cited 10 Party arguments 2
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Leung Chung Pun

1st Plaintiff

Masterwise International Limited

1st Defendant

Leung Chung Po

2nd Defendant

Leung Chung Lam

3rd Defendant

Lam Kit Bing Isabella

4th Defendant

Procedural Posture

Interlocutory Application Under Companies Ordinance (inspection of Records) / Decision on Summons (chambers)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether Masterwise is required to produce outstanding documents under the Inspection Order made pursuant to s152FA
  2. 2 Whether the outstanding documents form part of Masterwise's records for the purpose of s152FA
  3. 3 Whether possession or shareholder control makes subsidiary documents records of the parent company

Ratio Decidendi

The court's power under s152FA extends only to documents owned by or belonging to the specified corporation; because the plaintiff did not establish that the outstanding documents belonged to Masterwise, they were not part of Masterwise's records for s152FA and Masterwise was not required to produce them under the Inspection Order.

Court Disposition

Order made that Masterwise is not required to produce the outstanding documents specified in the Inspection Order (save for item 3.7); order nisi that there be no order as to costs.

Orders

  • Masterwise International Limited is not required to produce the outstanding documents specified in paragraph 1 of the summons dated 19 August 2015 (except item 3.7).
  • Order nisi: there be no order as to costs of the application.