Cap. 5 sub. leg. C

High Court Civil Procedure (Use of Language) Rules(25 of 1998 s. 2)(Cap. 5, section 5)(Enacting provision omitted—E.R. 7 of 2020) [27 June 1997] L.N. 374 of 1997(Format changes—E.R. 7 of 2020) 1. (Omitted as spent—E.R. 7 of 2020) 2. Interpretation In these Rules—Court (法院) means the High Court; judge (法官) means— (a) the Chief Judge of the High Court; (b) a Justice of Appeal; (c) a judge of the Court of First Instance; (d) a recorder of the Court of First Instance; (e) a deputy judge of the Court of First Instance; (f) the Registrar of the High Court; and (g) a Master defined in section 2 of the High Court Ordinance (Cap. 4); proceedings (法律程序) means any civil proceedings before the Court.(25 of 1998 s. 2) 3. Use of language in proceedings (1) In deciding to use either or both of the official languages in any proceedings or a part of any proceedings under section 5(1) of the Ordinance, a judge shall give paramount consideration to the just and expeditious disposal of the proceedings or the part of the proceedings, as the case may be.(2) A decision under section 5(1) of the Ordinance may be made by a judge at any stage of—(a) the proceedings before him; or(b) any part of the proceedings before him,on his own initiative or upon an application of any party to the proceedings.(3) A judge who has made a decision under section 5(1) of the Ordinance may give such direction in relation to the decision as may be necessary for giving effect to it. 4. Documents in either official languages (1) Any document which is required by any Ordinance to be—(a) filed in the Court; or(b) served on any person,for the purposes of any proceedings may be in either of the official languages.(2) Notwithstanding subrule (1), where any document which is filed in the Court by a party to any proceedings is in one of the official languages, a judge may direct the party to file a translation of the document in the other official language within such time as the judge may direct. 5. Translation of documents in one official language (1) A party to any proceedings who—(a) is served with a document in an official language with which he is not familiar; and(b) is familiar with the other official language,may request the party to the proceedings serving the document to provide him a translation of the document in the other official language.(2) A request under subrule (1) shall be made—(a) in writing; and(b) within 3 days after the service of the relevant document.(3) A requested party shall—(a) notify in writing the requesting party within 3 days after receiving the request that—(i) he will provide the translation as requested; or(ii) he will not provide the translation;(b) where he notifies the requesting party that he will provide the translation, provide the translation to the requesting party within a reasonable period of time.(4) Where a requesting party—(a) is not notified under subrule (3)(a);(b) is notified under subrule (3)(a)(ii) that the requested party will not provide the translation; or(c) is notified under subrule (3)(a)(i) that the requested party will provide the translation, but does not receive the translation within a reasonable period of time,he may apply to the Court for an order that the requested party shall provide the relevant translation to him.(5) Upon an application under subrule (4), the Court may—(a) order the requested party to provide the relevant translation to the requesting party within such period of time as the Court thinks fit if it is satisfied that the relevant request is reasonable;(b) order that every document to be served by the requested party to the requesting party for the purposes of the relevant proceedings after the date of the order shall either—(i) be in the official language with which the requesting party is familiar; or(ii) be in the official language with which the requesting party is not familiar and accompanied by a translation of the document in the other official language; and(c) make such order as to the costs of and incidental to the application as it thinks just.(6) The costs of and incidental to providing a translation pursuant to—(a) a request under subrule (1); or(b) an order under subrule (5)(a) or (b),shall be costs in the cause of the proceedings unless the Court otherwise directs.(7) In this rule—requested party (被要求的一方) means a party to whom a request under subrule (1) is made;requesting party (作出要求的一方) means a party who makes a request under subrule (1). 6. Language of order A party applying for an order from the Court shall—(a) supply the minute for the order in the language in which the order is to be made; and(b) produce a certified translation of the order in the other official language if the Court so directs. 7. Records and transcripts (1) The official record of proceedings shall be kept in any one of the official languages or both official languages as the judge hearing the proceedings may direct.(2) The transcripts of proceedings for appeal purposes shall be prepared in any one of the official languages or both official languages as the Court of Appeal may direct.