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Legal Updates
Know your rights: is a warrant needed before the Police can search seized mobile phones?
Case facts Mr Sham Wing Kan, a participant in the 1 July 2014 procession, was arrested by police for suspected offence of obstructing a police officer in execution of his duty by idling the vehicle during the procession. He was searched by the police and…Read More
Legal update: amendment to Employment Ordinance provisions relating to Employment Agencies
Effective from February 9 2018, the provisions in the Employment Ordinance relating to Employment Agencies (EAs) have been amended to: increase the maximum penalty for the offences of overcharging commission from job-seekers and the unlicensed operation of EAs up to a fine of HK$350,000 and…Read More
Legal update: amendment to existing sale of alcohol legislation is passed
Following an amendment to the law in respect of sale of alcohol to minors that was recently passed, it will become later this year a criminal offense to sell alcoholic beverages to minors with a maximum fine of HK$50,000. This change to the law will…Read More
Legal update: Changing trends in cyber fraud
As another year passes, the number and complexity of cyber frauds continues to grow. In this article we discuss three developments of 2017, which we expect to see continue this year. Traditionally, email hacking identity theft fraud was easy to detect. In an all too…Read More
Legal update: SFC bans former Investment Counsellor for taking confidential client lists
The Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) announced on 22 January 2018 that under section 196(1)(iii) of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (“SFO”) it has banned former DBS Bank employee Mr Chan Wai-Nun from re-entering the industry for a period of 6 months, on the grounds…Read More
Legal update: Ex-lover jailed for posting explicit video in revenge of breakup
In a recent District Court case (HKSAR v Wong Ngai Sang), a 23-year-old male was sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment for posting secretly filmed sexual footage of himself and his ex-lover onto the internet. The defendant and the victim, Miss X, met at work and…Read More
Legal update: Liquidators in the Labour Tribunal
To prevent legal costs making it prohibitive for employees to pursue claims relating to their employment, lawyers are not able to represent clients in Labour Tribunal proceedings. Where a party is a company, under Hong Kong law, only an “officer or servant” of that company…Read More
Reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments on matrimonial and related matters
Introduction Hong Kong and Mainland China have entered into a new arrangement on the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of civil judgments in matrimonial and family cases (the “Arrangement”) on 20 June 2017. The Arrangement is a significant step to providing clearer legal protection for relevant…Read More
Legal update: Court of Appeal upholds insider dealing and fraud decision in favour of SFC against two solicitors
Case background On 9 November 2017, the Court of Appeal (“CA”) dismissed the appeal by a solicitor, Eric Lee, and Eric’s two sisters, Patsy Lee and Stella Lee, against the judgment by the Court of First Instance (“CFI”) finding them guilty of insider dealing and…Read More
Judicial Separation or Divorce? When to file for one or the other?
What is Judicial Separation and why choose it? A Judicial Separation application may be appropriate where parties wish to legally separate but for various reasons they do not wish to divorce. Traditionally, this procedure was available to parties who did not see divorce as appropriate…Read More
Foreign Marriages, Bigamy, Polygamy and Nullity in the Law of Hong Kong
What is bigamy? Bigamy is the act of marrying a person while being legally married to another. It is a criminal offence triable upon indictment which, upon conviction, renders the offender liable to imprisonment for 7 years (section 45 of the Offences Against the Person…Read More
Legal obstacles to surrogacy remain in Hong Kong
Surrogacy is becoming an increasingly popular option for families hoping to start a family in Hong Kong. The acceptance of non-traditional family structures, increased access to reproductive technologies and cheaper international travel mean that surrogacy is no longer always altruistic, and it is less frequently…Read More
