Paquito Lima Buton v. Rainbow Joy Shipping Ltd Inc

FAMV No. 25 of 2007

IN THE COURT OF FINAL APPEAL OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

MISCELLANEOUS PROCEEDINGS NO. 25 OF 2007 (Civil)

(ON APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL FROM

CACV No. 243 of 2006)

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Between:

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Appeal Committee : Chief Justice Li, Mr Justice Chan PJ and Mr Justice Ribeiro PJ

Date of Hearing : 21 September 2007

Date of Determination : 21 September 2007

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DETERMINATION

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Chief Justice Li:

1.We accept that the following question, formulated in the course of submissions, is one which, by reason of its great general or public importance, or otherwise, ought to be submitted to the Court for decision, namely:

“	Does the District Court have exclusive jurisdiction to deal with claims under the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance, Cap 282, irrespective of the existence of an arbitration agreement between the parties to the contract of employment?”

2.We grant leave to appeal on the aforesaid question.  However, in so doing, we wish to make plain that an anterior question may have to be determined by the Court, namely, as to what the operative terms of the applicant’s contract of employment with the respondent were and in particular, whether such terms included an arbitration agreement.  It will be open to the respondent to contend that this point is not available to the applicant in the light of the fact that it has been common ground below that the parties are bound by an arbitration agreement.

3.Costs as usual will be in the appeal with the applicant’s costs to be taxed in accordance with the Legal Aid Regulations.

Mr Peter Duncan SC and Ms Monica Chow (instructed by Messrs Ng & Partners and assigned by the Legal Aid Department) for the applicant

Mr Russell Coleman SC (instructed by Messrs Dibb Lupton Alsop) for the respondent