TONG TIM NUI AND OTHERS v. HONG KONG HOUSING AUTHORITY
Because of the extraordinary nature of the case and the Hong Kong Housing Authority's acquiescence and failure to appeal the original judgment, which encouraged the appeals and meant the Authority's success was due to this Court's view rather than its own arguments, the Court exercised its discretion to make no...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- TONG TIM NUI AND OTHERS v. HONG KONG HOUSING AUTHORITY
- Parties
- Appellants: Tong Tim Nui and others; Respondent: Hong Kong Housing Authority
- Court
- Court of Appeal
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong
- Judgment Date
- 27 September 1999
- Case Number
- CACV315/1998
- Procedural Posture
- Consolidated Civil Appeals (court of Appeal) / Judgment on Costs (application Heard 27 September 1999)
- Outcome
- No order as to costs
- Legal Topics
- Costs Follow the Event, Judicial Discretion on Costs, Acquiescence and Failure to Appeal, Exceptional Circumstances
- Source Language
- et
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Tong Tim Nui and others
Appellants
Hong Kong Housing Authority
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Consolidated Civil Appeals (court of Appeal) / Judgment on Costs (application Heard 27 September 1999)
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the successful party (Hong Kong Housing Authority) should be awarded costs of the appeals
- 2 Whether the Authority's prior acquiescence and failure to appeal the original judgment negate the usual rule that costs follow the event
- 3 Whether exceptional circumstances exist to justify making no order as to costs
Ratio Decidendi
Because of the extraordinary nature of the case and the Hong Kong Housing Authority's acquiescence and failure to appeal the original judgment, which encouraged the appeals and meant the Authority's success was due to this Court's view rather than its own arguments, the Court exercised its discretion to make no order as to costs.
Court Disposition
No order as to costs
Orders
- No order as to the Hong Kong Housing Authority's costs of these appeals
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
1 paragraphs
bjbj CACV 281, 282, 283, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344 and 345/1998 CACV 27 and 28/1999 (Consolidated) IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION COURT OF APPEAL CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 281, 282, 283, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344 and 345 OF 1998 CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 27 and 28 OF 1999 (Consolidated) (ON APPEAL FROM HCMP 114 OF 1998) IN THE MATTER of the property known as Tiu Keng Leng Cottage at Site No. 25, Section No. 7 and Tiu Keng Leng Cottage at Site No. 131, Section No. 11, Tiu Keng Leng Cottage Area, Hong Kong and IN THE MATTER of compensation payable to residents of Tiu Keng Leng under the decision of Sears, J. in High Court Miscellaneous Proceedings No. 114 of 1998 BETWEEN TONG TIM NUI and others Applicants (Appellants) and HONG KONG HOUSING AUTHORITY Respondent (Respondent) Court : Godfrey, Mayo & Rogers, JJ.A. Hearing : 27 September 1999 Judgment on costs : 27 September 1999 --------------------------------- JUDGMENT ON COSTS --------------------------------- Godfrey, J.A. : Miss Gladys Li, S.C., for the Hong Kong Housing Authority, has applied for an order for costs against the appellants, reminding us, correctly, that, as a general rule, costs follow the event and that, here, the event is that the appellants have failed and the Hong Kong Housing Authority has succeeded. But, in our opinion, the extraordinary nature of this highly unusual case dictates a different conclusion. It seems to us that the acquiescence of the Hong Kong Housing Authority in the course taken by the judge below at various stages of the proceedings before him, and the failure of the Hong Kong Housing Authority to appeal against his original judgment, might fairly be considered to have encouraged the present appeals. The success of the Hong Kong Housing Authority is solely due to the view this court took of the judge s original judgment. Its success has been achieved despite, and not because, of its own arguments. The course the Hong Kong Housing Authority has adopted in relation to these appeals has not recommended itself to this court. In these quite exceptional circumstances, we consider it proper to make no order as to the Hong Kong Housing Authority s costs of these appeals. ( Gerald Godfrey ) ( Simon Mayo ) ( Anthony Rogers ) Justice of Appeal Justice of Appeal Justice of Appeal Mr. Ben Beaumont & Mr. Sher Hon Piu (M/s. Fred Kan & Co.) for the Applicants (Appellants) in all appeals except CACV 282/98 Applicant (Appellant) in CACV 282/98, Mr. Billy Yeung Bee Lee in person Miss Gladys Li, S.C. & Mr. Peter Ng (M/s. Simmons & Simmons) for the Respondent (Respondent) in all appeals - PAGE - @\\SSLAI\HP LaserJet 4 Plus Ne02: winspool HP LaserJet 4 Plus \\SSLAI\HP LaserJet 4 Plus \\SSLAI\HP LaserJet 4 Plus IN THE COURT OF APPEAL 199, No. user Normal Microsoft Word 8.0 user IN THE COURT OF APPEAL 199, No. Title _PID_GUID Microsoft Word Document MSWordDoc Word.Document.8