Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Hong Kong Case Law

Impossibility

  • 4 Oct 2004

    TRAFFIC STREAM INFRASTRUCTURE CO LTD AND OTHERS v. FULL WISDOM HOLDINGS LTD AND OTHERS

    Citation
    TRAFFIC STREAM INFRASTRUCTURE CO LTD AND OTHERS v. FULL WISDOM HOLDINGS LTD AND OTHERS
    Court
    Court of Final Appeal
    Case number
    FAMV15/2004

    Leave to appeal refused because the evidence of PRC law relied on by applicants was unsatisfactory and inadmissible as a basis to resist summary judgment, and because applicants conceded the JV contracts were valid at inception and only 'became' illegal (if at all) after the State Council Notice, thereby engaging clause 501(11)(c) which negated any mutual mistake defence; no question of great general or public importance arose and there was inexcusable delay.

  • 8 Aug 2002

    BILL CHAO KEH LUNG v. DON XIA

    Citation
    BILL CHAO KEH LUNG v. DON XIA
    Court
    Court of First Instance
    Case number
    HCA9289/2000

    The defendant's 3 June 1999 agreement divested him of the Teleway shares he had contracted to sell and thereby put him beyond realistic ability to perform; that conduct constituted repudiation. The plaintiff's subsequent refusal to pay the fourth instalment, viewed in the context of the parties' post‑renunciation communications, amounted to an unequivocal acceptance of that repudiation. Damages were assessed by reference to market value at the contractual delivery date less the contract price, the judge valuing each Teleway share at US$26.525 and awarding US$495,750 plus interest and costs.

  • 7 Nov 2000

    CHINA INTERNATIONAL WATER & ELECTRIC CORPORATION v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

    Citation
    CHINA INTERNATIONAL WATER & ELECTRIC CORPORATION v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
    Court
    Court of First Instance
    Case number
    HCCT64/2000

    Leave to appeal refused because the matter was a one‑off event attracting the strongest presumption of finality in arbitration, and the arbitrator's findings on special circumstances and impossibility were within his province and not plainly wrong.

  • 20 Mar 1997

    R v. LIN KUO LIANG DAVID

    Citation
    R v. LIN KUO LIANG DAVID
    Court
    Court of Appeal
    Case number
    CACC351/1996

    Because at the time of the alleged attempt the chose in action did not exist, under the impossibility rule as established in Haughton v. Smith the appellant could not be convicted of attempting to obtain property by deception; the conviction on that charge was quashed but, applying s83A(2) CPO, the court substituted conviction for the alternative offence of attempting to take deposits contrary to s12(1) Banking Ordinance and imposed a two year sentence.

  • 7 Jul 1992

    THE QUEEN v. SO CHING KWAN

    Citation
    THE QUEEN v. SO CHING KWAN
    Court
    Court of Appeal
    Case number
    CACC439/1991

    Where a defendant with intent employs inadequate or defective means (a jammed firearm) such that the intended crime cannot be completed, the conduct falls within Turner J.'s fourth category and remains a criminal attempt; and given the violent facts, taking of a hostage, firing in a crowded station, lack of genuine remorse and real risk of repetition, life imprisonment for manslaughter was justified.

  • 11 Feb 1991

    THE QUEEN v. CHEUNG WAI LEUNG

    Citation
    THE QUEEN v. CHEUNG WAI LEUNG
    Court
    Court of First Instance
    Case number
    HCMA1103/1990

    The conviction for attempted theft was unsustainable because the charge improperly alleged an attempt to steal a bank account (the customer does not own the account) and the Crown failed to prove the account was in credit or that extracting cash was possible; factual impossibility negated criminal attempt, therefore the conviction was quashed.