Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Hong Kong Case Law

Statutory seizure
  • 26 Mar 1968

    CHAN HOI v. THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE AND ANOTHER

    Citation
    CHAN HOI v. THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE AND ANOTHER
    Court
    Court of Appeal
    Case number
    CACV52/1967

    The court held that seizure under the Police Force Ordinance conferred only limited custody or temporary possession for a specific statutory purpose and did not extinguish the appellant's legal possessory rights; the police's disposal of the goods to a third party was an unauthorised abuse of the statutory power (trespass ab initio) and constituted conversion, entitling the appellant to judgment for the value of the goods.