Product Liability 2009 - Arnold & Porter LLP

Lovells Hong Kong
6.6 Do special rules apply to the settlement of
claims/proceedings e.g. is court approval required for the
settlement of group/class actions, or claims by infants, or
otherwise?
Court approval is required for the settlement of claims by infants or
mentally incapacitated persons and a special procedure applies for
approval to be obtained. Otherwise, there are no special rules
applying to the settlement of claims in general and a party is free to
settle a dispute without the approval of the court.
6.7 Can Government authorities concerned with health and
social security matters claim from any damages awarded
or settlements paid to the Claimant without admission of
liability reimbursement of treatment costs, unemployment
benefits or other costs paid by the authorities to the
Claimant in respect of the injury allegedly caused by the
product. If so, who has responsibility for the repayment of
such sums?
No. There is no legal provision by which Government authorities
concerned with health and social security matters can make such a
claim.
7 Costs / Funding
7.1 Can the successful party recover: (a) court fees or other
incidental expenses; (b) their own legal costs of bringing
the proceedings, from the losing party?
Yes. The court will usually order the losing party to pay the costs
(including court fees and legal costs) of the successful party.
7.2 Is public funding e.g. legal aid, available?
Yes, public funding is available.
7.3 If so, are there any restrictions on the availability of public
funding?
Legal aid will be granted if the applicant is able to satisfy the
statutory criteria as to the financial eligibility and the merits for
bringing the legal proceedings.
ICLG TO: PRODUCT LIABILITY 2009
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7.4 Is funding allowed through conditional or contingency fees
and, if so, on what conditions?
No, such funding is not allowed.
7.5 Is third party funding of claims permitted and, if so, on
what basis may funding be provided?
Third party funding of claims is, in principle, not allowed for
reasons of public policy. This prohibition has relaxed over time to
allow the notion of common interest to enable the funding of claims
by third parties, for example, in circumstances where legal aid is
available, where trade unions use the support of their union or
policyholders are indemnified by their insurer.
8 Updates
8.1 Please provide, in no more than 300 words, a summary of
any new cases, trends and developments in Product
Liability Law in Hong Kong.
The Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong issued a “Report on
Civil Liability for Unsafe Products” in December 1997 to consider
the reform of the existing law governing compensation for personal
injury and damage to property caused by defective or unsafe goods.
The Report recommended giving consumers the right to hold
manufacturers, producers, own-branders, importers, wholesalers,
distributors and retailers jointly and severally liable for defective or
unsafe products. The Report also recommended that consumers
should have the right to recover losses arising out of damage to the
defective product itself. There is however currently no legislative
action to implement such recommendations.
The Law Reform Commission also established a sub-committee in
November 2006 to consider whether a scheme for class actions
should be introduced in Hong Kong. Publication of the report of the
sub-committee is awaited.
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