CHAN MOON v. CHEUNG SUNG LAM

CHAN MOON v. CHEUNG SUNG LAM

The court held the cheques are unconditional bills of exchange and extrinsic evidence cannot be used to nullify their unconditional payment obligation absent a valid condition precedent; the defendant's alleged agreements were not credible on the contemporaneous evidence and did not constitute an arguable defence, so summary judgment must be entered for the plaintiff.

Citation
CHAN MOON v. CHEUNG SUNG LAM
Parties
Plaintiff: Mr Chan; Defendant: Unknown Defendant
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
22 October 2009
Case Number
HCA1060/2009
Procedural Posture
Debt Dishonoured Cheques / Summary Judgment (order 14 Application)
Outcome
Summary judgment granted for the Plaintiff
Legal Topics
Summary Judgment, Dishonoured Cheques, Extrinsic Evidence, Condition Precedent, Promissory Note, Security for Loan
Source Language
EN
Commercial Law Contract Bills of Exchange Civil Procedure Summary Judgment Dishonoured Cheques Extrinsic Evidence Condition Precedent +2 more

Case Brief

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Parties

Mr Chan

Plaintiff

Unknown Defendant

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Debt Dishonoured Cheques / Summary Judgment (order 14 Application)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether post-dated cheques are unconditional bills of exchange precluding extrinsic evidence of side-agreements
  2. 2 Whether the defendant's asserted agreements (cheques as security and later settlement agreement) are credible on the evidence
  3. 3 Whether the defendant has an arguable defence such that summary judgment should be refused

Ratio Decidendi

The court held the cheques are unconditional bills of exchange and extrinsic evidence cannot be used to nullify their unconditional payment obligation absent a valid condition precedent; the defendant's alleged agreements were not credible on the contemporaneous evidence and did not constitute an arguable defence, so summary judgment must be entered for the plaintiff.

Court Disposition

Summary judgment granted for the Plaintiff

Orders

  • Judgment for the Plaintiff for payment of HK$2,330,647
  • Interest at 8.00% per annum from 21 April 2009 until date of judgment and thereafter at judgment rate until full payment