Read the full judgment text of CACV 000117/1998 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 26 June 1998 before Nazareth VP, Liu JA, Wong J.
Civil procedure – leave to appeal to Court of Final Appeal – interlocutory appeal – production of documents – writs of subpoena duces tecum – parens patriae – Secretary for Justice – discovery – New Territories religious trust – To Clan claims to temple property – Whether the Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to hear interlocutory appeals brought during the course of a High Court civil trial from a ruling by the trial judge concerning the reception of evidence – Court held the question as framed was materially inaccurate and did not raise a question of great general or public importance – Government Departments were not parties to the action and the matter concerned setting aside subpoenas directed to non-parties, not reception of evidence – Whether courts will assist the Secretary for Justice in exploiting her dual capacities as Government representative and parens patriae to use documents at trial while preventing fair conduct of the trial – Court held the question did not present a proper question arising in the proceedings and was not appropriate for the Court of Final Appeal under s.22(1)(b) – A litigant may appear in a capacity of her own choice with attendant obligations – Application for leave refused – Respondent to have her costs of the application.
Legal issues: Whether the Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to hear interlocutory appeals from rulings on reception of evidence · Whether the Secretary for Justice's dual capacity as parens patriae and Government representative can be exploited to avoid discovery
Outcome: Application for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal refused
Cited by 1 case