Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Hong Kong Case Law

Legal practitioners ordinance s.34-s.37
  • 8 Dec 1989

    RE A COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY

    Citation
    RE A COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY
    Court
    Court of Appeal
    Case number
    CACV17/1989

    The appeal was allowed because the Instrument of appointment was defective: paragraph 3’s wording (‘as may be laid before it by the Bar Committee’) failed to confine the Committee to the specific formulated charges presented to the Chief Justice. Given the quasi‑judicial nature of the appointing function, the Chief Justice must be informed of the precise charges so his discretion is properly exercised; the defective Instrument removed the Committee’s cloak of jurisdiction and rendered the appointment unlawful and the Committee improperly constituted.