XCHRX TREND HARVEST INVESTMENT LTD. v. IP KIN MAN

HCA 14034/1997

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

ACTION NO. 14034 OF 1997

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J U D G M E N T

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1. This is a defendant vendor's application under Order 14A of the Rules of the High Court, which enables a case to be disposed of on a point of law. But the issue in the present case appears to be whether the requisitions on title raised by the plaintiff purchaser were ever satisfactorily answered by the defendant vendor. This is not a point of law. If the requisitions had been answered and the answers to the requisitions had been before the court today in a form which raised a point of law for determination, the case would have been altogether different . It does appear that at any rate one of the points now taken by the defendant vendor might have been capable of being framed as a point of law. But this procedure under O.14A is not appropriate for the court to adopt on the present state of the materials before it. This is an action (for some reason begun by writ rather than by originating summons) which must follow the normal course, unless and until a point of law of general application can be shown to have arisen. At present, it seems that the case may have to be disposed of, not on any point of law, but simply on the ground that the purchaser's requisitions were never satisfactorily answered by the vendor. It is of no help to a vendor to be right on an issue as to title unless he has answered the requisition which raises it. Accordingly, I regard this summons as misconceived, and I propose to dismiss it with costs.