Read the full judgment text of HCMP 2132/2013 on BabelCite. This Court of First Instance judgment was delivered on 20 January 2015 before Deputy High Court Judge Kent Yee.
Charities – public charitable trust – Tsung Tsin Association (香港崇正總會) – Originating Summons for declaration that Association is a public charitable trust and for supervisory relief – section 57A Trustee Ordinance (Cap. 29), Order 120 RHC and inherent jurisdiction – striking out application under Rule 19(1)(a), (b), (d) RHC and inherent jurisdiction – three-part test from Cheung Man Yu v Lau Yuen Ching [2007] 4 HKC 314: charitable character, public benefit, and exclusively charitable purposes – whether objects of Memorandum of Association dated 15 April 1959 fall within Pemsel heads of charity – whether Hakka Community resident in Hong Kong, China and abroad can constitute an identifiable section of the public – whether objects exclusively charitable – application of Keren Kayemeth le Jisroel v IRC [1932] AC 650 and Williams' Trustees v IRC [1947] AC 447 on worldwide ethnic beneficiaries – application of IRC v City of Glasgow Police Athletic Association [1953] AC 380 on exclusivity – consideration of Crystal Palace Trustees [1951] Ch 132 and ejusdem generis construction of 'other lawful interests' – relevance of actual activities including political sponsorship – distinction from Secretary for Justice v Joseph Lo Kin Ching (CACV 44/2013) on excision of non-charitable objects – whether prior related actions (HCA 4389/2003, HCMP 1856/2004) render present action abuse of process – whether defendants properly joined as trustees and members – whether Order 30 rule 1 RHC / section 21L High Court Ordinance appointment of interim receivers and managers justified – application of Re Zealot & Co Ltd [2008] 1 HKLRD 386 and American Cyanamid principles – Originating Summons plainly and obviously not disclosing reasonable cause of action – frivolous, vexatious and abuse of process – struck out – receivers and managers application refused for lack of urgency, unexplained delay, no asset jeopardy, and no undertaking as to damages – plaintiffs to pay defendants' costs on the usual basis with nisi variation within 14 days.
Legal issues: Whether the Association is plainly not a public charity for the purpose of striking out · Whether the present action is an abuse of the court process · Whether the individual defendants were improperly joined · Whether non-charitable objects can be excised from the Memorandum of Association following Joseph Lo Kin Ching · Whether interim receivers and managers should be appointed
Outcome: Originating Summons struck out; application for appointment of interim receivers and managers refused.
Cites 1 case