******************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:
Four sets of procedural and fees rules for the Competition Tribunal were published in the Gazette today (June 5) and will be tabled in the Legislative Council for negative vetting on June 10, a spokesman for the Judiciary said today. Comments made by the Legislative Council's subcommittee formed to scrutinise the draft rules have been reflected in the published rules as appropriate.
Following the enactment of the Competition Ordinance (Cap. 619) in June 2012, the Tribunal is being set up in the Judiciary as a specialised court with primary jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate cases of alleged breaches of competition conduct rules. Enforcement cases are expected to be brought by the Competition Commission and the Communications Authority.
Before the Tribunal can be brought into full operation, subsidiary legislation (called "rules") need to be enacted to provide for the procedural and fees matters for the Tribunal.
The Competition Ordinance provides that the Tribunal may decide its own procedures and may, in so far as it thinks fit, follow the practice and procedure of the Court of the First Instance (CFI) in the exercise of its civil jurisdiction. On the other hand, the Tribunal is to conduct its proceedings with as much informality as is consistent with attaining justice.
The following four sets of procedural and fees rules for the Tribunal have been made by the Chief Judge of the High Court and the High Court Rules Committee respectively:
(a) Competition Tribunal Rules;
(b) Competition Tribunal Fees Rules;
(c) Competition Tribunal Suitors' Funds Rules; and
(d) Rules of the High Court (Amendment) Rules 2015.
"In formulating these rules, the Judiciary has put forward various measures to minimise the litigants' legal costs for Tribunal proceedings as appropriate. For example, the Judiciary has proposed that the Tribunal be given flexibility under certain specific conditions to dispense with the application of the Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A) which govern the procedures for CFI cases," a spokesman said.
Additionally, similar to the CFI, a party may act in person for the Tribunal proceedings. A corporate litigant (i.e. a company) may also be represented by its director with the Tribunal's leave. The Judiciary has also proposed a reserve power for the Tribunal to allow any other person to appear on the party's behalf. These arrangements may help reduce the legal costs of parties under suitable circumstances.
Similar to the CFI, the Judiciary has also suggested empowering the Tribunal to allow consolidation of cases if, for example, the cases arise from a common set of facts/laws, the reliefs sought are similar, or the reliefs are sought against the same defendant/respondent. This should in turn help save legal costs.
The Judiciary has consulted various stakeholders on the proposed rules. They include the Hong Kong Bar Association, the Law Society of Hong Kong, the Competition Commission and the Communications Authority. They are generally supportive of these rules.
The rules will take effect when the Competition Ordinance is brought into full operation.
Ends/Friday, June 5, 2015
Issued at HKT 12:00
NNNN
