{"id":29120,"date":"2023-10-31T13:20:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T13:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prelive-tdw.visibleone.app\/insight-and-news\/foreign-plaintiffs-must-pay-security-for-costs-not-always\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T03:47:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T03:47:45","slug":"foreign-plaintiffs-must-pay-security-for-costs-not-always","status":"publish","type":"insight-and-news","link":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/insight-and-news\/foreign-plaintiffs-must-pay-security-for-costs-not-always\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign plaintiffs must pay security for costs?\u00a0 Not always.\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n    \n\n<div style=\"background-image:url('https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/wp-content\/themes\/tanner-de-witt\/images\/insightdetails.jpeg')\"\n    class=\"insight-news-detail-hero\" id=\"insight-news-detail-hero\">\n\n\t\t<div style=\"background-color:\" class=\"insight-news-detail-hero-overlay \"><\/div>\n            <div class=\"z-[0]\">\n                <div class=\"insight-news-breadcrumbs flex items-end practice-areas-featured-breadcrumbs \">\n                    <a class=\"page-link no-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/\">Home<\/a>                <\/div>\n\n\n                <div class=\"hero-title\">\n                    <h1>\n                        Foreign plaintiffs must pay security for costs?\u00a0 Not always.\u00a0\u00a0                    <\/h1>\n                <\/div>\n                \n                    <div style=\"\" class=\"hero-date \">\n\n                        <span class=\"month\">Oct<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"day\">31<\/span>\n                        <span class=\"year\">2023<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n    \n\n    \n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<script >\n    (function () {\n        document.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", () => {\n\n            const breadCrumbsContainer = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\".practice-areas-featured-breadcrumbs\"));\n\n            breadCrumbsContainer.forEach(container => {\n                const breadCrumbLinks = Array.from(container.querySelectorAll('.page-link'));\n                const breadCrumbSeperators = Array.from(container.querySelectorAll('.separator'));\n\n                if (Array.from(breadCrumbLinks).length === 1) {\n                    const homeNode = breadCrumbLinks[0];\n\n                    if (!homeNode) {\n                        return\n                    }\n\n                    const postTypeNode = homeNode.cloneNode(true);\n                    postTypeNode.textContent = \"Insights and News\";\n                    container.insertAdjacentHTML('beforeend', `<span class=\"separator practice-areas-featured-breadcrumb-item-slash\">\/<\/span>`)\n                    container.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', postTypeNode)\n                    breadCrumbLinks.push(postTypeNode);\n\n                    if (\"Insights\") {\n                        const categoryNode = homeNode.cloneNode(true);\n\n                        categoryNode.textContent = \"Insights\";\n                        container.insertAdjacentHTML('beforeend', `<span class=\"separator practice-areas-featured-breadcrumb-item-slash\">\/<\/span>`)\n                        container.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', categoryNode)\n                        breadCrumbLinks.push(categoryNode);\n                    }\n\n\n                    const titleNode = homeNode.cloneNode(true);\n\n                    titleNode.textContent = \"Foreign plaintiffs must pay security for costs?\u00a0 Not always.\u00a0\u00a0\";\n                    container.insertAdjacentHTML('beforeend', `<span class=\"separator practice-areas-featured-breadcrumb-item-slash\">\/<\/span>`)\n                    container.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', titleNode)\n                    breadCrumbLinks.push(titleNode);\n\n\n\n\n                }\n\n                breadCrumbLinks.forEach((link, index) => {\n\n                    link.classList.add('practice-areas-featured-breadcrumb-item-name');\n                    const origin = window.location.origin;\n                    const href = window.location.href;\n\n                    const originSplitter = window.location.href.includes(\"insight-and-news\") ? \"insight-and-news\" : window.location.href.includes('insights-and-news') ? \"insights-and-news\" : \"\"\n\n                    const paths = href.split(originSplitter);\n                    const links = paths[1].split(\"\/\").filter(Boolean)\n\n\n                    const resolvedOrigin = originSplitter ? 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class=\"single-section\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Tanner De Witt secures victory for a foreign plaintiff against defendant\u2019s intended appeal to Court of Appeal, following defeating a claim for security for costs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/legalref.judiciary.hk\/lrs\/common\/search\/search_result_detail_frame.jsp?DIS=155701&amp;QS=%2B%7C%28hca3039%2F2016%29&amp;TP=JU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>decision<\/strong><\/a> handed down by The Honourable Mr Justice Wilson Chan on 20 October 2023 in <strong><em>XY, LLC v Jesse Zhu (also known as Jia-Bei Zhu and Jessie Jia-Bei Zhu) and Grand Network Technology Limited<\/em><\/strong> [2023] HKCFI 2686, the Hong Kong Court dismissed the defendant\u2019s application for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal against the Court of First Instance\u2019s judgment which affirmed the dismissal of the defendant\u2019s application for security for costs against the foreign plaintiff with no assets or presence in Hong Kong. \u00a0Tanner De Witt\u2019s Dispute Resolution team represented the plaintiff \u2013 XY, LLC (\u201c<strong>XY<\/strong>\u201d) \u2013 in this case.<\/p>\n<p>The 2<sup>nd<\/sup> Defendant (\u201c<strong>GNT<\/strong>\u201d)\u2019s application against XY for security for costs (for over HK$4 million) was first heard and dismissed by a Master in the First Instance, followed by a dismissal of its appeal against the Master\u2019s decision. \u00a0Details of XY\u2019s successful resistance against GNT\u2019s appeal of the Master\u2019s decision were reported in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/insight-and-news\/high-court-holding-that-a-foreign-plaintiff-with-no-assets-or-presence-within-the-hong-kong-jurisdiction-has-a-high-probability-of-success-for-the-purpose-of-defe\/\"><strong>previous post<\/strong>. <\/a>\u00a0The dismissal was primarily based on the ground that XY has a \u201c<em>high probability of success<\/em>\u201d in the action.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Notwithstanding the dismissal, GNT sought leave to appeal the First Instance Judge\u2019s decision to the Court of Appeal.\u00a0 In dismissing GNT\u2019s application for leave to appeal, the Court had the following key rulings:<\/p>\n<ol type=\"1\">\n<li>The Court confirmed that the threshold for the purpose of the security for costs is \u201c<em>high probability of success<\/em>\u201d, which is a higher threshold than \u201c<em>good arguable case<\/em>\u201d.\u00a0 Contrary to GNT\u2019s arguments, the Court did not \u201c<em>conflate<\/em>\u201d the two different thresholds.\u00a0 In determining that XY has a \u201c<em>high probability of success<\/em>\u201d in the present action, the Court replied on the \u201c<em>findings and evidence<\/em>\u201d concerning the merits of XY\u2019s claims by the Court of Appeal and the Leave Committee of the Court of Final Appeal in related litigation proceedings.\u00a0 The determination was not simply based on the \u201c<em>conclusion<\/em>\u201d previously reached by those Courts.<\/li>\n<li>When exercising its discretion in deciding whether to order security for costs, the Court is entitled to have regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the fact that there are substantial outstanding costs orders granted in favour of XY against GNT in related proceedings in Hong Kong.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong><em>Comments<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The decision reaffirms the Hong Kong Courts\u2019 position that security for costs is not an arbitrary weapon to be wielded against foreign plaintiffs.\u00a0 The Court does not order security from a plaintiff simply because it is a foreign entity.\u00a0 Instead, the Court retains a discretion to decide whether it is just to order such security, having considered all the circumstances of the case. \u00a0A major consideration is the likelihood of the plaintiff succeeding.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong><em>Pamela Mak and Ling Meng<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For further information and enquiry, please contact our Pamela Mak.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/our-people\/pamela-mak\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pamela Mak<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Partner | <a href=\"mailto:pamelamak@tannerdewitt.com\">Email<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Disclaimer: This publication is general in nature and is not intended to constitute legal advice. You should seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters dealt with in this publication.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tanner De Witt secures victory for a foreign plaintiff against defendant\u2019s intended appeal to Court of Appeal, following defeating a claim for security for costs In the decision handed down by The Honourable Mr Justice Wilson Chan on 20 October 2023 in XY, LLC v Jesse Zhu (also known as Jia-Bei Zhu and Jessie Jia-Bei [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"insight-category":[1121],"insight-month":[1150],"insight-practice-area":[1132],"insight-year":[1161],"class_list":["post-29120","insight-and-news","type-insight-and-news","status-publish","hentry","insight-category-legal-updates-and-insights","insight-month-october","insight-practice-area-dispute-resolution","insight-year-1161"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-and-news\/29120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-and-news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/insight-and-news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-and-news\/29120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31933,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-and-news\/29120\/revisions\/31933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29120"},{"taxonomy":"insight-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-category?post=29120"},{"taxonomy":"insight-month","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-month?post=29120"},{"taxonomy":"insight-practice-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-practice-area?post=29120"},{"taxonomy":"insight-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tannerdewitt.com\/zh-hans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight-year?post=29120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}