HONG KONG SAR, CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Eric H. H. Chow, Michael Cheng, Stephanie Wong and June Wong, C L Chow and Macksion Chan
plaintiff applies by filing an affidavit of service and a draft judgment for approval. Where the defendant has acknowledged service and indicated an inten - tion to defend, two clear days’ written notice must be given before judgment is entered in default of defence. For other claims, such as a claim for an injunction, judgment can be sought only once the time for filing a defence has expired, on summons heard before a judge. • Interlocutory judgment on liability: Used mainly in unliquidated claims to determine liability in the plaintiff’s favour while leaving the amount of dam - ages to a later assessment. It does not dispose of the whole action. • Summary judgment: A judgment on the merits without a full trial, available under Order 14 of the RHC in most actions begun by writ, subject to certain exceptions. It allows a plaintiff with a strong case to obtain judgment quickly, but the threshold is demanding; the defendant need only show an issue that ought to be tried, or some other reason for a trial, and the court will not conduct a mini- trial on affidavit evidence. Where the dispute turns on a point of law or the construction of a docu - ment rather than on disputed facts, the court may determine that question under Order 14A of the RHC, which can dispose of the claim or an issue in it without a trial. • Judgment after a trial: After the court has heard the evidence and the parties’ submissions at trial, it determines the issues in disputes on merit and makes appropriate orders and/or reliefs. 2.2 Enforcement of Domestic Judgments A judgment does not collect itself. Which enforce - ment method works best depends on the type of judgment, on what the debtor owns and on where those assets are (see 1. Identifying Assets in the Jurisdiction on identifying assets). The main options are charging orders, garnishee proceedings, writs of execution, insolvency proceedings, and stop orders or stop notices. They can be combined, and in practice often are. Charging Orders and Garnishee Proceedings Where the judgment debtor owns land, securities or money in a bank account, a charging order or gar - nishee proceedings are the usual choices. A charging
order imposes a charge over the judgment debtor’s property – commonly, land or securities – under Order 50 of the RHC and Sections 20A to 20B of the HCO. It does not by itself result in an immediate recovery of money; instead, it makes the judgment creditor a secured creditor, who must then apply for an order for sale to realise the asset. Garnishee proceedings, under Order 49 of the RHC, direct a third party who owes money to the judgment debtor (typically, the judgment debtor’s bank) to pay that money to the judgment creditor instead. Both follow a two-stage process. • Stage 1 – order nisi: the judgment creditor makes an ex parte application, supported by an affidavit, and the court grants a provisional order (an “order nisi”). Because the judgment debtor is not yet notified, this stage prevents dissipation: the order nisi can be registered against the land at the Land Registry in a charging order or freezes the bank account up to the judgment amount in garnishee proceedings. The order must then be notified to the judgment debtor and/or any affected third party within the requisite timeframe. • Stage 2 – order absolute: at a later hearing, the judgment debtor and any affected third party can show cause why the order should not be made final. If they do not, the court makes the order absolute – finalising the charge or directing the bank to pay the frozen funds to the judgment creditor. Writs of Execution If a judgment or order is not complied with, the judg - ment creditor can obtain a writ of execution to author - ise enforcement by the court bailiff. The main writs are the writ of fieri facias (often “fi fa”), the writ of possession and the writ of delivery. A writ of fi fa is used where the judgment debtor has goods at identifi - able premises: the bailiff seizes the goods, which are generally sold at auction to meet the judgment debt and costs. A writ of possession recovers land or prem - ises, and a writ of delivery recovers goods. A writ of possession and a writ of fi fa can be sought together – common in landlord-and-tenant cases where the judgment gives both possession and a monetary sum – subject to their separate procedural rules.
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