RE CHOY BING WING

RE CHOY BING WING

The Costs Orders were validly made in bankruptcy proceedings; s99(1) BO permits enforcement of such orders by High Court procedures including charging orders under Order 50 RHC; the conditional cheques did not constitute unconditional payment and did not defeat enforcement; the recusal application failed because no real possibility of bias was shown; accordingly the master had jurisdiction to make the charging order absolute on the 1st property and the judge dismissed the appeal and awarded costs to the Director.

Citation
RE CHOY BING WING
Parties
Judgment Debtor / Appellant: Choy Bing Wing; Judgment Creditor / Respondent: Director of Housing Department, The Government of the Hong Kong SAR
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
14 March 2014
Case Number
HCB12343/2009
Procedural Posture
Bankruptcy Appeal (appeal From Master to Judge in Chambers) / Hearing on Appeal (rehearing) of Charging Order Nisi/absolute and Related Costs Orders
Outcome
Appeal dismissed; Au-Yeung Order upheld: Charging Order Absolute on 1st Property maintained and Charging Order Nisi on 2nd Property discharged; costs of the appeal awarded to the Director.
Legal Topics
Charging Order, Enforcement of Costs Orders, Jurisdiction to Enforce After Withdrawal of Petition, Recusal of Judicial Officer, Conditional Payment Instruments, Summary Assessment of Costs
Source Language
EN
Bankruptcy Civil Procedure Enforcement Costs Charging Order Enforcement of Costs Orders Jurisdiction to Enforce After Withdrawal of Petition Recusal of Judicial Officer +2 more

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Parties

Choy Bing Wing

Judgment Debtor / Appellant

Director of Housing Department, The Government of the Hong Kong SAR

Judgment Creditor / Respondent

Procedural Posture

Bankruptcy Appeal (appeal From Master to Judge in Chambers) / Hearing on Appeal (rehearing) of Charging Order Nisi/absolute and Related Costs Orders

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the court had jurisdiction to make and enforce costs orders after withdrawal of the bankruptcy petition
  2. 2 Whether costs orders made in bankruptcy proceedings could be enforced by charging order under Order 50 RHC via s99(1) BO
  3. 3 Whether master should have recused for actual or apparent bias

Ratio Decidendi

The Costs Orders were validly made in bankruptcy proceedings; s99(1) BO permits enforcement of such orders by High Court procedures including charging orders under Order 50 RHC; the conditional cheques did not constitute unconditional payment and did not defeat enforcement; the recusal application failed because no real possibility of bias was shown; accordingly the master had jurisdiction to make the charging order absolute on the 1st property and the judge dismissed the appeal and awarded costs to the Director.

Court Disposition

Appeal dismissed; Au-Yeung Order upheld: Charging Order Absolute on 1st Property maintained and Charging Order Nisi on 2nd Property discharged; costs of the appeal awarded to the Director.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed
  • Charging Order Absolute upheld as to 35/850th shares of the 1st Property to secure payment of $119,670.10 plus interest (Awarded Costs) and costs of the application summarily assessed at $34,000