Read the full judgment text of CAMP 106/2023 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 9 May 2023 before 關淑馨 (Kwan SH, Vice President), 林雲浩 (Lam YW, Justice of Appeal).
Civil procedure – leave to appeal – extension of time – disclosure application – abuse of process – issue estoppel – Ladd v Marshall test – costs – summary assessment. The defendant sought leave to appeal out of time from a decision of the Court of First Instance refusing his disclosure application. The application was made over 3 months late without any explanation. The court applied the principles in Cheung Chiu Hon and Han Yan Tao [2022] HKCA 1405, considering the length of delay, explanation, prospects of success, and prejudice. The judge's decision was a discretionary one, and the applicant failed to show any error or that the decision was outside the reasonable range of discretion. The disclosure application was a repeat of a previous application already refused, constituting an abuse of process and being barred by issue estoppel. The judge had applied the Ladd v Marshall test and the applicant did not identify any error. The proposed appeal had no real prospect of success. Application for leave to appeal out of time refused. The applicant is prohibited from applying under Order 59 rule 2A(7) for the court to reconsider the application at an attended hearing. The applicant shall pay the plaintiff's costs of this application, summarily assessed at HK$37,668.
Legal issues: Leave to appeal out of time
Outcome: Application for leave to appeal out of time refused.
Cited by 3 cases · Cites 8 cases