Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Relevance of evidence

Legal area

Court

2 Mar 2026

CHOW LILY v. CHOW WAI WAI VIOLET AND ANOTHER

Citation

[2026] HKCFI 1147
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCAP22/2019

The court held that most challenged paragraphs were relevant to the plaintiff's newly pleaded undue influence claim because they rebut the allegation that the Deceased was mentally and emotionally vulnerable in 2015; accordingly those paragraphs were permitted to remain. However, specific passages that were collateral, unrelated to the scope of the Amendment Order or addressed litigation conduct were struck out (Kuok para 22; Ma paras 6, 7 (last sentence), 8, 9; Tam para 26; D2 para 25). Given the stage of proceedings, a striking‑out remedy was appropriate and the defendants were granted leav…
26 Sept 2025

AZIZ SHAFQAT v. TORTURE CLAIMS APPEAL BOARD / NON-REFOULEMENT CLAIMS PETITION OFFICE

Citation

[2025] HKCA 697
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACV152/2025

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and upheld the High Court order refusing leave because the applicant failed to identify any error of law, procedural unfairness or irrationality in the Board’s decision and failed to show a realistic prospect of success; the court will not re‑assess the Board’s factual findings or credibility determinations on judicial review.
14 Oct 2024

PACIFIC ACE FINANCE LTD v. DELAY, GILDA H. AND ANOTHER

Citation

[2024] HKDC 1735
Court

District Court
Case number

DCCJ3298/2018

The summonses were dismissed because the applications were made late with inadequate explanations for the delay, the sought documents were not relevant to the defendant's pleaded defence (which disputed only the dates, not the existence or contents of the promissory notes), and there was insufficient merit to justify ordering production; costs were awarded to the plaintiff.
4 Jul 2022

WONG TSZ HANG by her uncle and next friend CHU MAN KONG v. INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL BANK OF CHINA (ASIA) LTD

Citation

[2022] HKDC 664
Court

District Court
Case number

DCEC2470/2019

Paragraphs 22–24 of the 2nd Affirmation were expunged because they concerned events occurring after the alleged date of injury (9 August 2018) and were therefore irrelevant to whether the Applicant disclosed a reasonable cause of action; expunging was a proper exercise of the court's discretion under O 41 r 6.
15 May 2020

朱賽金對 PIZZAEXPRESS (HONG KONG) LTD

Citation

[2020] HKDC 302
Court

District Court
Case number

DCPI2731/2018

The affidavit filed without leave consisted largely of a schedule and exhibits that were either irrelevant to the trial issues or already part of the trial documents; the court lacks jurisdiction to investigate the plaintiff's complaints against third parties in this trial; therefore the Master’s order deleting the affidavit was justified and must be upheld, and the plaintiff must pay the defendant's costs related to that affidavit.
10 Dec 2018

WONG CHAK MING v. WONG YUEN WAN ALICE AND OTHERS

Citation

[2019] HKCFI 77
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP3395/2016

The court granted D1 and D2 leave to file fresh affirmations removing their answers to the inducement allegation (because the allegation had been removed by consent and the defendants' answers were no longer justified), dismissed D1's summons to admit a 4th affirmation about post-transfer Tai Yun affairs as irrelevant and abuse of process and ordered indemnity costs against D1 for that summons, granted limited leave to file parts (paras 8–14) of D1's proposed 5th affirmation and ordered D1 to file an affirmation disclosing details, net proceeds and whereabouts of the Craig Mount sale within 2…
29 May 2018

WONG LAI MING v. WONG LAI KUEN, the Executrix of the estate of Wong Lai Wah

Citation

[2018] HKCFI 1740
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA2564/2013

Leave to adduce the additional witness statement was refused because the application was late, the proposed evidence was not sufficiently relevant to the core issue of whether the plaintiff gave instructions for payment of the funds, the late addition would prejudice the defendant's trial preparation, and no good reason justified the delay.
15 May 2018

TANG Yl v. EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD ASSET MANAGEMENT HONG KONG LTD AND ANOTHER

Citation

[2018] HKCFI 1050
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA942/2013

The court granted leave to issue letters of request to the French judiciary for examination of four named witnesses because their evidence was directly relevant and necessary to determine whether a binding Performance Fee Arrangement existed; alternatives were inadequate (documents and local witnesses insufficient; confidentiality covenants and employer pressure made voluntary attendance or video-link unrealistic); the application was bona fide and not unreasonably delayed; accordingly the action was stayed pending return of the letters and costs were ordered nisi.
12 Jul 2017

JAFOON PROPERTY FINANCE LTD v. KING PETER HICKSON SEETO SHEW also known as JIN ZHIHAO

Citation

JAFOON PROPERTY FINANCE LTD v. KING PETER HICKSON SEETO SHEW also known as JIN ZHIHAO
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA648/2014

The court applied the governing civil procedure principle that amendments and additional documents should be permitted only to the extent they are material and directly relevant to issues in dispute (including defences under s27 MLO and witness credibility); immaterial or irrelevant passages may be struck out.
1 Mar 2017

WONG CHEUNG TAI v. 房麗芬

Citation

WONG CHEUNG TAI v. 房麗芬
Court

District Court
Case number

DCCJ3535/2014

The court has inherent/general jurisdiction to strike out irrelevant or scandalous parts of witness statements; background evidence about TP tenancies that is directly tied to the defendants (the husband, Mdm Fong and Mr Fong) is potentially relevant and should be left for the trial judge, but detailed negotiation results and documents relating to other third‑party tenancies are plainly irrelevant and scandalous for these actions and, in the interests of active case management, fairness and expedition, those parts must be struck out. The court therefore granted the summonses in part, ordered…