Read the full judgment text of CACV 1835/2001 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 9 November 2001 before Rogers VP, Le Pichon JA and Sakhrani J.
Company law – director's right of inspection of company accounting records – inspection of computer records – forensic imaging – amendment of court order – liberty to apply – Companies Ordinance, Chapter 32 of the Laws of Hong Kong – right of inspection of computerised accounts – plaintiff a director of Boldwin Construction Company Limited and B.F. Construction Company Limited – orders originally drawn in conventional phraseology for written books of account – accounting records kept on computer – forensic imaging process required to preserve computer records and avoid alteration – application under inherent jurisdiction to amend order on 19 September 2001 – whether court had power to amend – slip rule under Ord. 20 r. 11 not the basis of amendment – liberty to apply implied in court orders (Fritz v Hobson (1880) 14 Ch. D. 542) – whether objections to third party computer software and other records on same hard drive had merit – resolved by confidentiality safeguards – whether points sought to be argued were of great general or public importance warranting leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal – major grounds turned on director's right of inspection of company documents – whether interference with inspection required likelihood of damage from misuse of confidential information – court found proposed arguments had no relevance to the result of the plaintiff's applications – no evidence of any misuse of information – competent director duty bound to investigate heavily qualified Boldwin 1998 and 1999 accounts, unexplained large deposits and debits, 2nd defendant's personal use of Boldwin's accounts for stock investments, alleged misrepresentation to bankers regarding $14 million fixed deposits, and substantial discrepancies in B.F. Construction accounts with profits dropping from over $115 million to $15.5 million and to a loss of $37,794 in 2000 – inferences of vindicteness were inferences of fact from documentary evidence – Court of Appeal in as good a position as Court of First Instance – animosity alone could not debar application – leave to appeal to Court of Final Appeal dismissed.
Legal issues: Director's right of inspection of company accounting records
Outcome: Leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal dismissed in both CACV 1835/2001 and CACV 1836/2001.
Cited by 8 cases · Cites 1 case