Read the full judgment text of HCA 011512/1999 on BabelCite. This High Court CFI judgment was delivered on 13 March 2000 before Deputy Judge Carlye Chu.
Civil procedure – setting aside default judgment – irregular judgment – service of writ – Order 10 Rule 1(2)(b) Rules of High Court – service by insertion through letterbox – whether permitted mode of service – whether writs came to defendant's notice – cross-examination of process server – whether good and sufficient reason shown – whether plaintiff had reasonable ground for opinion in affirmation of service – impeachment of good faith – company search and last known address – change of residential address and notification to Company Registry – Chu Kam Lun v. Yap Lisa Susanto – whether defendant must show merits of defence to set aside irregular default judgment – Po Kwong Marble Factory Ltd v. Wah Yee Decoration Ltd – Faircharm Investments Ltd v. Citibank International Plc – Wing Lung Bank Ltd v. Ho Man Lam – Honour Finance Co. Ltd v. Chui Mei Mei – Forward v. West Sussex County Council – Austin Rover v. Crouch Butler Savage Associates – Desirable International Fashions v. Chiang Shi Chau – Wendy Wenta Seng Yuen v. Philip Pak-yiu Yuen – Law Kwok Hung v. Tse Ping Man – Fok Chun Hung v. Lo Yuk Shi – two related actions between the same Plaintiff and Defendant – HCA 11512/1999 claim for HK$530,000 on two dishonoured cheques – HCA 12693/1999 claim for HK$1,148,014.01 being balance of loan and interest – writs served by insertion into letterbox of Dragon Terrace address – defendant had moved to Fortress Hill Road address months before service – default judgments entered without defendant's knowledge – defendant became aware when judgments served at registered office of Lun Kee Poultry Limited – held: insertion through letterbox is a recognised and not unusual mode of service – held: process server was a mere clerk acting on instructions and cross-examination would serve no useful purpose, so application dismissed as fishing expedition – held: judgments irregular because, although served in compliance with the Rules, writs did not in fact come to defendant's notice and he was not afforded opportunity to give notice of intention to defend – held: defendant need not show merits to set aside irregular judgment following Po Kwong Marble Factory Ltd – default judgments set aside unconditionally with leave to defend – costs of the setting aside applications to be costs in the cause – costs of cross-examination summonses to the Plaintiff in any event
Legal issues: Cross-examination of process server on affirmation of service · Whether default judgments are regular or irregular · Whether merits of defence must be shown to set aside irregular default judgment
Outcome: The two default judgments were set aside unconditionally and the Defendant was granted unconditional leave to defend both actions. The Defendant's two summonses to cross-examine the process server were dismissed with costs to the Plaintiff in any event.
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