TONG TIM NUI AND OTHERS v. HONG KONG HOUSING AUTHORITY
The Court exercised its discretion to depart from the general rule that costs follow the event because the Hong Kong Housing Authority had acquiesced in the course taken below and failed to appeal the original judgment; the respondent's success resulted from the appellate court's view of the judge's original...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- TONG TIM NUI AND OTHERS v. HONG KONG HOUSING AUTHORITY
- Parties
- Appellant: Tong Tim Nui and others; Appellant: Billy Yeung Bee Lee; Respondent: Hong Kong Housing Authority
- Court
- Court of Appeal
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong
- Judgment Date
- 27 September 1999
- Case Number
- CACV323/1998
- Procedural Posture
- Consolidated Civil Appeals (court of Appeal) / Judgment on Costs (hearing 27 September 1999)
- Outcome
- No order as to costs
- Legal Topics
- Costs Following the Event, Discretion to Depart From Costs Rule, Acquiescence by Respondent, Failure to Appeal, Compensation to Residents
- Source Language
- et
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Tong Tim Nui and others
Appellant
Billy Yeung Bee Lee
Appellant
Hong Kong Housing Authority
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Consolidated Civil Appeals (court of Appeal) / Judgment on Costs (hearing 27 September 1999)
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the general rule that costs follow the event applies
- 2 Whether the respondent's conduct (acquiescence and failure to appeal the original judgment) justifies a departure from the general rule on costs
- 3 Whether the respondent's success was attributable to its own arguments or to the appellate court's view of the judge's original judgment
Ratio Decidendi
The Court exercised its discretion to depart from the general rule that costs follow the event because the Hong Kong Housing Authority had acquiesced in the course taken below and failed to appeal the original judgment; the respondent's success resulted from the appellate court's view of the judge's original judgment rather than from the respondent's own arguments, and therefore the court made no order as to the respondent's costs of these appeals.
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