A plain-language explanation of how Hong Kong law distinguishes unreasonable dismissal from unlawful dismissal under the Employment Ordinance.
How severance pay and long service payment work under Hong Kong's Employment Ordinance, including the 2025 abolition of MPF offsetting.
How Cap. 25 fixes the Labour Tribunal's jurisdiction by Schedule, how it interlocks with the Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board and the Small Claims Tribunal, and the procedure from filing to enforcement.
A plain-language guide separating what a solicitor's letter can do from what the law does: which deadlines are statutory and which the sender simply chose, how limitation works under the Limitation Ordinance (Cap. 347), and the rules of court that govern a writ, default judgment and setting one aside.
Plain-language patterns from five real, verified judgments on Labour Tribunal appeals: contracts bind as written, waivers don't oust statutory claims, and appeals lie on law only. Our own summaries; not legal advice.
The statutory formula in Cap. 57 ss.31G and 31V, the Schedule 11 split for employees whose employment straddles the transition date, the Seventh Schedule ceiling, the offsetting rules in ss.31I and 31Y as modified, and the timing and offence provisions.
The steps, grounds, and typical timeline for a divorce in Hong Kong under the Matrimonial Causes Ordinance — single petition and joint application explained.
How Hong Kong courts divide matrimonial property on divorce: the statutory factors, the yardstick of equality from LKW v DD, and how prenuptial agreements are treated.
How Hong Kong courts make decisions on child custody, care and control, access, and removal from Hong Kong — including the Hague Convention on child abduction.
Plain-language patterns from five real, verified judgments: the five-step framework, equal division as the yardstick, departures, and committal for unpaid maintenance. Our own summaries; not legal advice.
Real judgments on child maintenance: assessment by needs and means, married and unmarried routes, variation, and what happened when payments stopped. Our own summaries; not legal advice.
Real, verified judgments on Hong Kong's largest litigated divorces: the HK$1.68B trust case, needs under a prenup, appellate adjustments, and why departures from equality needed concrete reasons. Our own summaries; not legal advice.
Right by right: what the courts have decided, in the judgments' own words, and the position after the 2025 LegCo vote — court holdings and official statements only.
A plain-language guide to the Hong Kong residential conveyancing process and what role a solicitor plays at each stage — from Provisional Agreement to completion.
How residential and non-residential property stamp duty works in Hong Kong after the 28 February 2024 abolition of BSD/SSD/NRSD, plus the 2025 band changes and the proposed 6.5% top rate for 2026.
The technical detail of title investigation and mortgage deed work in Hong Kong property transactions — Good Title, Deed of Mutual Covenant, Government Lease, and the Land Registry.
The rights of a person arrested in Hong Kong, each traced to the provision it comes from — and which of them are statute, which are constitutional guarantees, and which are only administrative practice.
Bail in Hong Kong traced to the provisions that create it — the duty to admit to bail, the grounds for refusing it, the conditions that may be imposed, and the routes to review.
An overview of how ICAC and SFC investigations work in Hong Kong — their powers of interview, compulsion, search, and seizure, and how they differ from ordinary police investigations.
Plain-language patterns from six real, verified Hong Kong judgments on theft sentencing: value, records and context moved sentences in these decided cases. Our own summaries; not legal advice and never a prediction.
Plain-language patterns from four real, verified Court of Appeal judgments on dangerous driving: culpability as the dominant factor, alcohol, racing, and disqualification. Our own summaries; not legal advice and never a prediction.
Plain-language patterns from six real, verified Court of Appeal judgments on drug sentencing: quantity-based tariffs, role adjustment, and the self-consumption discount. Our own summaries; not legal advice and never a prediction.
Plain-language patterns from six real, verified judgments: the charge ladder from common assault to wounding with intent, and what moved sentences in these decided cases. Our own summaries; not legal advice and never a prediction.
Plain-language patterns from eight real, verified judgments on indecent assault sentencing: the established bands, aggravating factors, and appellate corrections. Our own summaries; not legal advice and never a prediction.
From lending an account for a few hundred dollars to how the Court of Appeal does the arithmetic — the courts' own words and the actual sentences in five decided cases.
Which convictions attract the Ordinance's protection, which follow you for life, and the positions and proceedings where it does not apply — verified against the ordinance text.
A plain-language guide to the key terms in a Hong Kong residential tenancy agreement — rent, deposit, term, repair obligations, early termination, and subdivided unit rules.
How stamp duty works on Hong Kong tenancy agreements — the three rate bands, how to calculate, who pays, and consequences of late or missed stamping.
How a Hong Kong tenancy ends and how a dispute about it is resolved — the Small Claims Tribunal's exclusive money jurisdiction and its exceptions, the Lands Tribunal's enumerated powers, the District Court's possession route, forfeiture for rent arrears, deposits, and the separate rules for regulated tenancies of subdivided units.
Plain-language patterns from six real, verified Hong Kong judgments on water seepage between flats: proof of source, expert evidence, and the range of damages awarded. Our own summaries; not legal advice.
The official timetable, fees and penalties, from the Government's Basic Housing Units site, plus how the regime interacts with Part IVA rent control.
What the Employees' Compensation Ordinance actually gives you, how each head is computed, how the claim runs, and where the Ordinance stops.
What the statutes actually say after a Hong Kong road accident: the three duties in Cap. 374 s.56, compulsory third-party cover and the insurer's duty to satisfy judgments under Cap. 272, and why the 3-year limitation period is a starting point rather than a closed door.
A plain-language guide to Hong Kong public liability claims — the common duty of care under the Occupiers Liability Ordinance (Cap. 314), the statutory defences, what must be proved, and how the limitation period actually runs.
Plain-language patterns from eight real, verified Hong Kong judgments on traffic-accident damages: the PSLA spectrum by injury severity, contributory negligence, and credibility. Our own summaries; not legal advice.
Plain-language patterns from seven real, verified Hong Kong judgments on work-injury compensation: how ECO awards were built, why sick-leave length drove totals, and the separate common-law route. Our own summaries; not legal advice.
A printable checklist for what to do after a car crash in Hong Kong — and, underneath it, what Road Traffic Ordinance section 56, the Motor Vehicles Insurance (Third Party Risks) Ordinance and the Limitation Ordinance actually say.
What Cap. 374 s.56 obliges you to do after a collision (stop; give particulars if required; report within 24 hours — including where you yourself are the injured person), the separate certificate and reporting duties in Cap. 272 s.16, the two statutory 7-day rules in Cap. 272 s.10, the limitation rule in Cap. 347 s.27 with its knowledge and override qualifiers, and the offences police invoked in the 2026 crash-for-cash cases with their elements, penalties and defences. All arrests are alleged and untested in court.
What makes a Hong Kong will valid under the Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30) — signing, witnessing, the court's dispensing power, revocation by marriage, and the deadlines that follow death.
How Hong Kong's Intestates' Estates Ordinance distributes the estate of a person who dies without a will — the statutory shares for spouse, children, parents, and other relatives.
What the grant does, who may apply, the statutory deadlines that carry criminal penalties, what it actually costs, and how money can lawfully be released before the grant — from Cap. 10, Cap. 10A and Cap. 4D.
A plain-language guide to incorporating a private company limited by shares in Hong Kong — what incorporation does, who may serve, the prescribed government fees, the filing deadlines the Ordinance actually sets, the Significant Controllers Register, and how a company is wound down.
A plain-language guide to shareholders' agreements in Hong Kong private limited companies — which points rest on the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) and which are pure contract, how the agreement sits alongside the articles, and the members' rights that no agreement can remove.
A plain-language guide to Hong Kong employment contracts — key terms, the new 417/468 rule for continuous contracts (effective 18 January 2026), probation, notice, and the enforceability of restrictive covenants like non-compete and non-solicitation.
There is no Hong Kong debt-collection ordinance. This guide sets out, from the statutes themselves, the five general regimes that do bite, the 6-year limitation clock and what restarts it, and which forum a debt claim must go to.
A neutral, official-source explanation of Hong Kong bankruptcy: petitions, Official Receiver's fees, the discharge timeline, and life during bankruptcy. Information, not a recommendation.
What the Bankruptcy Ordinance and the Bankruptcy Rules actually provide about a voluntary arrangement — who is bound, the statutory timetable, the fee scale, the occupation consequences, and how to read IVA advertising against the text.
What Cap. 163 gives a borrower, what it does not, and — set out honestly — which collection conduct is criminal under which provision, and where the provisions are thinner than a frightened reader would hope.
The statutory time limits that govern how quickly a Hong Kong case must be listed or a decree made absolute, quoted from the Ordinances and Rules themselves.
Every court fee in Hong Kong is prescribed by a named piece of subsidiary legislation, not by the parent Ordinance. This guide traces each figure to the rule that sets it, gives the 80% concessionary fee for electronic filing, and sets out which fee schedules carry a power to reduce, remit or defer payment and which do not — for bankruptcy, that power sits in the parent Ordinance rather than the Fees Order itself. Court fees only; this page does not cover solicitors' fees.
The financial eligibility limits in the Legal Aid Ordinance, how the means test is actually computed under the Assessment of Resources and Contributions Regulations, the proceedings that are excepted outright, the contribution scales, and the separate rules governing criminal legal aid.
The Small Claims Tribunal end to end — what the Schedule's proviso excludes, who may appear, the fee schedule, the three ways the 7-day appeal clock runs, and enforcement in the District Court.
The hub for our real-case pattern series: 10 articles drawing on 50+ verified Hong Kong judgments, covering compensation, sentencing and dispute outcomes, with every case linked to HKLII.
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These guides are for general legal information only and do not constitute legal advice.