Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Inspection of seized documents

Legal area

Court

11 Dec 2009

RMBSA CORPORATE SERVICES LTD AND ANOTHER v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND ANOTHER

Citation

RMBSA CORPORATE SERVICES LTD AND ANOTHER v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP1412/2008

Documents seized in Hong Kong under s.12 of Cap.525 are to be assessed for legal professional privilege according to Hong Kong law (lex fori); the Ordinance's s.2(10) and s.13 and the Treaty (art XVII) support applying the requested party's domestic law to searches and seizures, and therefore Hong Kong law governs the privilege determination.
4 Jun 2009

RMBSA CORPORATE SERVICES LTD AND ANOTHER v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND ANOTHER

Citation

RMBSA CORPORATE SERVICES LTD AND ANOTHER v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACV96/2009

The Court of Appeal held that the plaintiffs were entitled to withhold Annex A from the defendants to preserve a claim of legal professional privilege under Philippine law; service of the expert report to the court without serving Annex A did not amount to waiver of privilege, and the court could inspect the annexed material privately and receive ex parte assistance to determine the claim. Accordingly the order directing immediate service of Annex A was set aside and the appeal was allowed.
15 Dec 1999

APPLE DAILY LTD. v. THE COMMISSIONER OF THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION

Citation

APPLE DAILY LTD. v. THE COMMISSIONER OF THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACV357/1999

The balance of competing interests favored preserving the status quo: Apple had an arguable chance of success and the release of documents before the appeal would likely render the appeal nugatory; ICAC's asserted prejudice did not constitute clear and compelling reasons to permit inspection prior to determination of the appeal, so interim relief maintaining the sealing order was warranted.

Hong Kong Case Law

RMBSA CORPORATE SERVICES LTD AND ANOTHER v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND ANOTHER

RMBSA CORPORATE SERVICES LTD AND ANOTHER v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND ANOTHER

APPLE DAILY LTD. v. THE COMMISSIONER OF THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION