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HK Proposes Leapfrog Appeals to Court of Final Appeal
The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) will introduce amendments to the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance to provide for a leapfrog arrangement to enable certain civil appeals to go direct from the Court of First Instance (CFI) to the Court of Final Appeal (CFA), bypassing the Court of Appeal (CA).
"A leapfrog arrangement would speed up the litigation process and save costs," a government spokesman said here Wednesday.
"Under the proposed arrangement, an appeal to the CFA direct will be permitted when a leapfrog certificate has been issued by the trial judge of the CFI making the decision against which an appeal is to be made and leave to appeal has been granted by the CFA," he said.
The trial judge of the CFI may issue a leapfrog certificate if he considers that a sufficient case for appeal to the CFA has been made out and all parties to the proceedings consent to the grant of a certificate.
"The trial judge should also be satisfied that the point of law in the case is among other things of great general or public importance," the spokesman said.
The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (Amendment) Bill 2001, to be gazetted this Friday and introduced into the Legislative Council on June 13, will set out the detailed leapfrog mechanism.
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