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Legal Updates
Police arrest procedures for breaches of Injunction Orders made against violent spouses and cohabitants under the Domestic and Cohabitation Relationships Violence Ordinance Cap 189
Introduction The Hong Kong Police Force recently reviewed procedures for the handling of cases involving breach of an Injunction Order with an authorisation of arrest attached made under the Domestic and Cohabitation Relationships Violence Ordinance (Cap 189) (“DCRVO”). Injunction order Section 3 of the DCRVO…Read More
Legal update: An introduction to Parental Alienation
Introduction Parental alienation refers to alignment of a child with one parent whilst rejecting a relationship with the other “without legitimate justification”1. This often results from the continued denigration of one parent by the other to the child / children of the family. In doing…Read More
Legal update: Stored Value Facilities: Are you ready for the 13 November 2016 deadline?
With the rapid development and growth of non-traditional and digital payment and settlement facilities in recent years, a new regulatory regime was needed in Hong Kong to protect users of stored value facilities (“SVFs”). In particular, regulators wanted to ensure that issuers and operators of…Read More
Legal update: An introduction to the legal aspects of match-fixing in sport
As illegal gambling has grown so has the awareness by local and international law enforcement agencies of the link between illegal gambling, organized crime and match-fixing and the severity of the match fixing. For instance in 2014 fifteen of the member states of the Council…Read More
Legal update: Escaping the abscondee regime – Bankruptcy (Amendment) Ordinance 2016
A bankrupt’s successful 2006 Court of Appeal1 challenge to the “abscondee” provisions in the Bankruptcy Ordinance effectively forced LegCo to tighten up one of the loopholes plaguing the current legislation. As a result, the Bankruptcy (Amendment) Ordinance became law earlier this year and will come…Read More
Legal update: Specialist Tribunals and Boards in Hong Kong
Many of the administrative and legal decisions that affect closely the lives of residents of Hong Kong and businesses that operate in Hong Kong are not made in the courts but are given in specialist tribunals or other bodies created by statute to deal with…Read More
Legal update: The Draft Code of Practice for Employment Agencies
The Labour Department is conducting a consultation on a draft Code of Practice for Employment Agencies. Through promulgating the Code for the industry’s compliance, the Labour Department aims to promote professionalism and quality services in the employment agencies industry. Members of the public can obtain…Read More
Legal update: Children’s Dispute Resolution in Hong Kong
Children’s Dispute Resolution, Practice Direction 15.13 becomes a permanent feature of Hong Kong Family Court practice. The Pilot Scheme on Children’s Dispute Resolution which began on 3 October 2012 came to an end on 31 March 2016 with Practice Direction 15.13 being formally adopted from…Read More
Legal update: The Collaborative Divorce: A new approach
Is the collaborative approach right for you? Do you trust yourself and your partner to prioritise the needs of your family? Do you trust yourself and your partner to be open about your financial situation? Are you able to communicate with your partner openly and…Read More
Legal update: Government proposes compulsory reinstatement and re-engagement of unreasonably dismissed employees
The Government published in the Gazette on 12 February 2016 the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2016. The Bill seeks to amend the Employment Ordinance (Cap 57) (“EO”) to allow the Labour Tribunal (the “LT”) to order an employer to reinstate or re-engage an employee where the…Read More
Legal update: The Competition Ordinance – Leniency Policy
INTRODUCTION The Competition Ordinance (Cap 619) (the “Ordinance”) came into force on 14 December 2015. Since our previous overview of the Ordinance (click here), the Competition Commission (the “Commission”) and the Competition Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) have been formally established. The Enforcement Policy published by the…Read More
Legal update: Tax update: Hong Kong is removed from Italy’s blacklists
Following the tax treaty between Italy and Hong Kong that was entered into on 14th January 2013, Italy removed Hong Kong from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions (also know as “Italian blacklists”) on 30th November 2015. It is expected that this development will boost…Read More
