案例點睇: Real Hong Kong Cases, Explained in Plain Language

What this series is

"How much compensation?" "How long a sentence?" "Would the claim succeed?" — nobody can answer those in advance, but the decided cases show how courts actually handled similar facts. Each article in the 案例點睇 series draws on 5–8 real Hong Kong judgments, distils the factors courts weighed and the outcomes they reached in plain language, and links every case to its original judgment on HKLII.

All 10 articles

Compensation

• Traffic accident awards — eight judgments: PSLA from HK$10,000 to HK$2,000,000, contributory negligence, and how exaggeration sank a claim.
• Work injury awards — seven judgments: how ECO awards were built, why sick-leave length drove totals, the common-law route.
• Water leakage disputes — six judgments: proving the source, expert tests, awards from HK$59k to HK$348k.

Sentencing

• Shop theft — six judgments: first offenders vs recidivists, the pickpocketing tariff, breach-of-trust theft.
• Dangerous driving — four Court of Appeal judgments: the culpability-led framework, alcohol, racing with no victim.
• Drug offences — six judgments: the 2025 unified tariffs, courier role adjustment, the self-consumption discount.
• Assault and wounding — six judgments: the charge ladder from common assault to wounding with intent.
• Indecent assault — eight judgments: the established bands, aggravating factors, appellate corrections.

Dispute outcomes

• Divorce asset division and maintenance enforcement — five judgments: the equal-division framework, and what happened when maintenance went unpaid.
• Employment disputes above the Labour Tribunal — five judgments: payment in lieu, settlement waivers, commission, unilateral pay cuts.

How we work (method and limits)

• Every case is a real judgment: verified against the original text on HKLII, with a link — none from memory or second-hand summaries.
• Neutral citations only: no natural person is ever named; family judgments are court-anonymised, and victim-involving cases are generalised to the most abstract level.
• Descriptive, never predictive: every figure is what that case actually decided — never what your case would decide.
• Our own writing: the summaries are our understanding of the judgments — not legal advice, no legal effect, not citable as authority.

Companion resources

• Official waiting times: how long courts take
• Official charges: court and tribunal fees
• Free legal help: legal aid and duty lawyer
• Representing yourself: the Small Claims playbook