ANZ COMMODITY TRADING PTY LTD v. EXCELLENCE RAISE OVERSEAS LTD AND OTHERS

ANZ COMMODITY TRADING PTY LTD v. EXCELLENCE RAISE OVERSEAS LTD AND OTHERS

The defendants had not discharged their discovery obligations; electronic documents in personal email accounts fall within the scope of possession, custody or power and may be ordered inspected even absent authorisation from former employers; accordingly the court granted ANZ's requested orders (with amendments).

Source-derived case information.

Citation
[2019] HKCFI 2805
Parties
Plaintiff: ANZ COMMODITY TRADING PTY LTD; 1st Defendant: EXCELLENCE RAISE OVERSEAS LIMITED; 2nd Defendant: COME HARVEST HOLDINGS LIMITED; 3rd Defendant: MEGA WEALTH INTERNATIONAL TRADING LIMITED; 4th Defendant: WONG WAI KWOK; 5th Defendant: KO SIU MEI HAMAY; 6th Defendant: SIU CHUNG HANG; 7th Defendant: ZHUHAI HENGQIN DE FENG INTERNATIONAL TRADING COMPANY LIMITED (珠海橫琴德豐國際貿易有限公司); 8th Defendant: ZHUHAI TITAN INTERNATIONAL TRADING CORPORATION (珠海戴頓國際貿易有限公司); 9th Defendant: JOLLY ADMIRE LIMITED; 10th Defendant: HIGH EXPRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
6 November 2019
Case Number
HCCL4/2017
Procedural Posture
Commercial Action / Application for Specific Discovery (interlocutory)
Outcome
Applications for specific discovery granted and orders made as per the drafts with amendments; hearing to be fixed on costs.
Legal Topics
Specific Discovery, Electronic Disclosure, Possession Custody or Power of Documents, Compliance With Discovery Orders
Source Language
en
Civil Commercial Evidence Civil Procedure Specific Discovery Electronic Disclosure Possession Custody or Power of Documents Compliance With Discovery Orders

Source-derived case record

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 2 Party arguments 2
Sign in to unlock

Parties

ANZ COMMODITY TRADING PTY LTD

Plaintiff

EXCELLENCE RAISE OVERSEAS LIMITED

1st Defendant

COME HARVEST HOLDINGS LIMITED

2nd Defendant

MEGA WEALTH INTERNATIONAL TRADING LIMITED

3rd Defendant

WONG WAI KWOK

4th Defendant

KO SIU MEI HAMAY

5th Defendant

SIU CHUNG HANG

6th Defendant

ZHUHAI HENGQIN DE FENG INTERNATIONAL TRADING COMPANY LIMITED (珠海橫琴德豐國際貿易有限公司)

7th Defendant

ZHUHAI TITAN INTERNATIONAL TRADING CORPORATION (珠海戴頓國際貿易有限公司)

8th Defendant

JOLLY ADMIRE LIMITED

9th Defendant

HIGH EXPRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED

10th Defendant

Procedural Posture

Commercial Action / Application for Specific Discovery (interlocutory)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the 5th and 6th defendants must disclose documents stored in email accounts opened under the instructions of their former employers
  2. 2 Whether absence of authorisation from former employers prevents discovery by the defendants
  3. 3 Whether access to or ability to reset passwords for email accounts constitutes possession, custody or power for disclosure purposes

Ratio Decidendi

The defendants had not discharged their discovery obligations; electronic documents in personal email accounts fall within the scope of possession, custody or power and may be ordered inspected even absent authorisation from former employers; accordingly the court granted ANZ's requested orders (with amendments).

Court Disposition

Applications for specific discovery granted and orders made as per the drafts with amendments; hearing to be fixed on costs.

Orders

  • Two orders as per the drafts put before the court on behalf of ANZ, with amendments, to compel specific discovery by the 5th and 6th Defendants.
  • Parties to be heard on costs (hearing to be fixed).