12. What should parties to a civil case know about "payment into court"?

Payment into court is one of the most valuable weapons in the armoury of the person being sued by the plaintiff (i.e. the defendant).

If the defendant thinks that he does in fact owe the plaintiff some money (but not the amount that the plaintiff stated), he may pay an amount he considers appropriate (together with interest) into court. Likewise, if negotiations between the two parties with a view to reaching a settlement are not successful, the defendant may pay the money he offered into court.

On making any payment into court, the defendant must give notice to the plaintiff on the form named "Notice of payment into court" (Note: You can find a sample of the "notice of payment into court" form on the Judiciary webpage at http://www.judiciary.gov.hk/en/crt_services/forms/general_instruct.htm?eform=courtforms/hc/doc/hc_34_notice_of_payment_ i nto_court (for cases in the High Court only). You can also get the form at the relevant Court Registries or at the Resource Centre for Unrepresented Litigants. )

If the plaintiff accepts the amount that the defendant has paid into the court, the claim will be settled at that amount and the plaintiff can recover his legal costs from the defendant up to the time of the acceptance of the payment.

If the plaintiff does not accept the money paid into court by the defendant, the plaintiff may still continue with the litigation and the matter will be resolved by the court. The matter of payment-in by the defendant will not be disclosed to the judge at the trial. This is to avoid any bias or adverse inference (such as an inference of admission of liability) being drawn against the defendant.

If the plaintiff succeeded in claiming more than the amount paid into court, he is entitled to the legal costs for the whole trial. However, if the court awards to the plaintiff an amount less than or equal to the amount of the payment-in, the court may order the plaintiff to bear the defendant's costs from the time the plaintiff should have accepted the payment-in to the end of the trial. (The defendant has to bear his own costs from the beginning of the case up to the time the plaintiff should have accepted the payment-in.) There will be a set-off of the costs between the plaintiff and the defendant when the costs are assessed.