High
Court
Civil
Procedure (Use
of
Language)
Rules
(Enacting provision omitted—E.R. 7 of
2020)
[27 June 1997]
(Format changes—E.R. 7 of 2020)
1.
(Omitted as spent—E.R. 7 of 2020)
2.
Interpretation
In these Rules—
Court
(法院
) means the High Court;judge
(法官
) means—(a)
the Chief Judge of the High Court;
(b)
a Justice of Appeal;
(c)
a judge of the Court of First Instance;
(d)
a recorder of the Court of First Instance;
(e)
a deputy judge of the Court of First Instance;
(f)
the Registrar of the High Court; and
proceedings
(法律程序
) means any civil proceedings before the
Court.3.
Use of language in proceedings
(1)
In deciding to use either or both of the official languages in any proceedings
or a part of any proceedings under section 5(1) of the Ordinance, a judge
shall give paramount consideration to the just and expeditious disposal of the
proceedings or the part of the proceedings, as the case may be.
(2)
A decision under section 5(1) of the Ordinance may be made by a judge
at any stage of—
(a)
the proceedings before him; or
(b)
any part of the proceedings before him,
on his own initiative or upon an application of any party to the
proceedings.
(3)
A judge who has made a decision under section 5(1) of the Ordinance
may give such direction in relation to the decision as may be necessary for giving
effect to it.
4.
Documents in either official languages
(1)
Any document which is required by any Ordinance to be—
(a)
filed in the Court; or
(b)
served on any person,
for the purposes of any proceedings may be in either of the official
languages.
(2)
Notwithstanding subrule (1), where any document which is filed in the Court by
a party to any proceedings is in one of the official languages, a judge may direct
the party to file a translation of the document in the other official language
within such time as the judge may direct.
5.
Translation of documents in one official language
(1)
A party to any proceedings who—
(a)
is served with a document in an official language with which he is not
familiar; and
(b)
is familiar with the other official language,
may request the party to the proceedings serving the document to provide him
a translation of the document in the other official language.
(2)
A request under subrule (1) shall be made—
(a)
in writing; and
(b)
within 3 days after the service of the relevant document.
(3)
A requested party shall—
(a)
notify in writing the requesting party within 3 days after receiving the
request that—
(i)
he will provide the translation as requested; or
(ii)
he will not provide the translation;
(b)
where he notifies the requesting party that he will provide the
translation, provide the translation to the requesting party within a reasonable
period of time.
(4)
Where a requesting party—
(a)
is not notified under subrule (3)(a);
(b)
is notified under subrule (3)(a)(ii) that the requested party
will not provide the translation; or
(c)
is notified under subrule (3)(a)(i) that the requested party
will provide the translation, but does not receive the translation within a
reasonable period of time,
he may apply to the Court for an order that the requested party shall provide
the relevant translation to him.
(5)
Upon an application under subrule (4), the Court may—
(a)
order the requested party to provide the relevant translation to the
requesting party within such period of time as the Court thinks fit if it is
satisfied that the relevant request is reasonable;
(b)
order that every document to be served by the requested party to the
requesting party for the purposes of the relevant proceedings after the date of
the order shall either—
(i)
be in the official language with which the requesting party is
familiar; or
(ii)
be in the official language with which the requesting party is not
familiar and accompanied by a translation of the document in the other
official language; and
(c)
make such order as to the costs of and incidental to the application as it
thinks just.
(6)
The costs of and incidental to providing a translation pursuant to—
(a)
a request under subrule (1); or
(b)
an order under subrule (5)(a) or (b),
shall be costs in the cause of the proceedings unless the Court otherwise
directs.
(7)
In this rule—
requested
party
(被要求的一方
) means a party to whom a request
under subrule (1) is made;requesting
party
(作出要求的一方
) means a party who makes a request
under subrule (1).6.
Language of order
A party applying for an order from the Court shall—
(a)
supply the minute for the order in the language in which the order is to be
made; and
(b)
produce a certified translation of the order in the other official language if
the Court so directs.
7.
Records and transcripts
(1)
The official record of proceedings shall be kept in any one of the official
languages or both official languages as the judge hearing the proceedings may
direct.
(2)
The transcripts of proceedings for appeal purposes shall be prepared in any one
of the official languages or both official languages as the Court of Appeal may
direct.