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The Court of Final Appeal (CFA) handed down its judgment on the Official Receiver's appeal regarding the interpretation of section 30A(10)(b)(i) of the Bankruptcy Ordinance (BO) today (July 20).
The CFA allowed the Official Receiver's appeal, and held that section 30A(10)(b)(i) was unconstitutional. This provision provided that when a bankrupt left Hong Kong, he should notify his trustee of his departure and contact information; otherwise, his bankruptcy period would be suspended until he notified the trustee of his return.
"The judgment basically does not have any adverse impact on either discharged or undischarged bankrupts. For undischarged bankrupts, they should continue to cooperate with their trustees in discharging their duties under the BO," a spokesman for the Official Receiver's Office (ORO) said.
"For those un-cooperative bankrupts, we will continue to apply to the court for an order to object to their discharge under section 30A(4) of the BO, on grounds such as failure to cooperate in the estate administration, unsatisfactory conduct etc," the spokesman said.
"We will study the judgment in more detail and consider whether any other follow-up action is required, in consultation with other relevant departments."
If any bankrupt has enquiries about the judgment, he may contact ORO at 2867 5828 or his trustee. If the Official Receiver is the trustee, he may contact his case officer direct for assistance.
Ends/Thursday, July 20, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:50
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