2) Is it cost-effective to commence legal action?

If you are the defendant / respondent (i.e. being sued by the other person), you have no choice but to face the lawsuit. But if you want to sue somebody, you should carefully think about the followings before taking action:

Will I get my money?

It is important to consider whether the person, firm or company you are claiming from is likely to be able to pay. If they

• are unemployed or bankrupt;
• have no money of their own; no personal property and nothing else of value belonging to them;
• ceased to trade; or
• have other substantial debts to pay,

the court may not be able to help you get your money even if you win the case. On the other hand, you may be able to get some money if you are prepared to accept small instalments over a period of time. You should therefore try to negotiate with your debtor (or the defaulting party) for payments by instalments without going to court.

If the person is bankrupt or the company has wounded up, you will probably not get your money. To check the records of personal bankruptcy or companies’ compulsory winding-up, you can contact the Official Receiver's Office. For checking records of companies’ voluntary winding-up, you can contact the Companies Registry.

If the person you are claiming from has already been sued by others and fails to pay, the chance of recovering your money may be minimal.

What are the expenses?

You will usually need to pay a fee to the court to start you claim. If the person you are suing (the defendant) surrenders and pays you, you may recover your fee as well. In very rare and special circumstances, you may apply to court for exemption of paying the court fees. If the defendant defends your claim, you may need witnesses to tell the court what had happened. You may have to pay a deposit to the court ($500 for each witness, subject to change) for the witness expenses.

If you engage a lawyer to represent you, you have to pay your lawyer's fees and expenses. You may ask the court to order the defendant to reimburse you if you win your case. But usually, you may not get the full amount of your expenses.

You may need to obtain a report from an expert (e.g. a doctor, a mechanic or a surveyor). You may also need to ask this expert to come to court to give evidence on your behalf. You will have to pay expert's expenses and charges. But if you win, the court may order the defendant to pay towards these.

Can I afford the time?

If you are suing the other and the opposite party does not defend, you may obtain judgment (win the case) without proceeding to court hearing. If your claim is defended, you will need to take more time to prepare your case. You will probably be required to attend court hearing and, even if you win the case, you may have to spend more time to proceed further to enforce the court judgment

(Note: The above answer only applies to civil litigations. If you are the victim in a criminal case, the relevant prosecution work will be handled by the Department of Justice of the HKSAR Government. If you are the accused in a criminal case, you should appoint a lawyer to represent you. To get the contact details of lawyers and the information on free/subsidized legal services, please go to "How do I find a lawyer?" . If you want to know the differences between criminal and civil litigations , please go to http://www.hkclic.org/en/topics/hkLegalSystem/criminalAndCivilLaw/answer12.shtml )