Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Apportionment of award

Legal area

Court

16 Oct 2008

CHOI SIN FUN AND ANOTHER v. CHARTERED ENVIRONMENTALIST LTD AND ANOTHER

Citation

CHOI SIN FUN AND ANOTHER v. CHARTERED ENVIRONMENTALIST LTD AND ANOTHER
Court

District Court
Case number

DCEC1000/2007

On the balance of probabilities the court found the Deceased was the employee of the 2nd Respondent and the 1st Respondent was the principal contractor; both respondents were therefore jointly liable under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance for statutory compensation and funeral expenses. The court awarded HK$771,160 as employees' compensation and HK$35,000 for funeral expenses, ordered interest at half the District Court judgment rate from the relevant dates to judgment and full judgment rate thereafter, awarded costs, and apportioned 95% of the compensation to the mother and 5% to the br…
11 Jun 2008

LAW YIU CHAN AND ANOTHER v. WONG KWOK WAI t/a SUPPER REPAIRING CO

Citation

LAW YIU CHAN AND ANOTHER v. WONG KWOK WAI t/a SUPPER REPAIRING CO
Court

District Court
Case number

DCEC804/2007

The court ordered statutory funeral expenses at the Schedule 6 maximum (HK$35,000) because s.6(5) makes such payment mandatory up to that cap; awarded interest at 6% per annum on the combined principal (HK$588,000 judgment plus HK$35,000 funeral expenses = HK$623,000) from 1 July 2005 to 10 April 2008 pursuant to s.21(3); declined a certificate for counsel because the facts did not require counsel beyond a solicitor; and awarded the costs of the supplementary hearing to the Applicants because the Applicants took reasonable steps to avoid the hearing and the Respondent defaulted.
10 Jul 2006

MAK MUI CHUN v. LUEN YIP ENGINEERING CO

Citation

MAK MUI CHUN v. LUEN YIP ENGINEERING CO
Court

District Court
Case number

DCEC716/2004

It was practicable to compute monthly earnings under s11(1)(b); the correct lesser period was the full calendar months of March–April 2003; the deceased's monthly earnings were calculated at HK$15,375, s11(2) was not applicable, and compensation under s6(1) was fixed at HK$15,375 x 60 = HK$922,500 with s6(5) agreed at HK$35,000; 50% of the s6(1) award to the widow and 50% to be shared equally by three children; s6(5) award to widow; interest at half judgment rate from date of accident to award date and judgment rate thereafter until payment.
7 Oct 1977

CHAN SO-YUEN AND ANOTHER v. DASMAGAN RAI

Citation

CHAN SO-YUEN AND ANOTHER v. DASMAGAN RAI
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA396/1977

Court applied the Cookson v. Knowles approach dividing past pecuniary loss to trial and future loss, accepted monthly dependency of $500, applied a multiplier effectively yielding 8 future years after accounting for 37 months to trial, awarded $3,000 funeral expenses, $10,000 loss of expectation of life and $48,500 under the Fatal Accidents Ordinance (total $61,500), ordered interest at 4% on specified sums from date of death to judgment and reduced all sums by 50% for contributory negligence.

Hong Kong Case Law

CHOI SIN FUN AND ANOTHER v. CHARTERED ENVIRONMENTALIST LTD AND ANOTHER

LAW YIU CHAN AND ANOTHER v. WONG KWOK WAI t/a SUPPER REPAIRING CO

MAK MUI CHUN v. LUEN YIP ENGINEERING CO

CHAN SO-YUEN AND ANOTHER v. DASMAGAN RAI