4. What should I do if I decide to defend the case?

If you wish to defend the claim brought against you by the plaintiff, within 14 days after the time limit for acknowledgment of service has expired (where a writ of summons was served together with a statement of claim), or within 14 days after the statement of claim has been delivered to you (where the writ of summons was served together with an endorsement of claim), you should file and serve your defence on the plaintiff (explaining why you are disputing the plaintiff's claim) and your counterclaim against the plaintiff (if any). Some explanatory notes about how to prepare a defence and counterclaim, and a sample defence and counterclaim, can be obtained from the Resource Centre for Unrepresented Litigants at http://rcul.judiciary.gov.hk/rc/eng/sform/sform.jsp?s=s152 .

One further point to note is that if you intend to defend the claim, you must specifically answer each and every allegation as set out in the plaintiff's statement of claim. In other words, you must reply in accordance with every point as written on the plaintiff's statement of claim. It will be deemed (considered) that you admit to any allegations that you do not specifically deny in your defence. (Note: The same applies to the plaintiff pleading to the counterclaim of the defendant.)