1. In a brief description of the procedures of personal injury proceedings, must the plaintiff and the defendant appoint lawyers to handle the case? Are there any differences in the procedures between claims for injuries and claims for fatal events?

If the amount of compensation that you are claiming exceeds $1,000,000, then you should submit your claim to the Court of First Instance of the High Court . If the amount of the claim is over $50,000 but not more than $1,000,000, the action should commence at the District Court . For a minor claim that does not exceed $50,000, the Small Claims Tribunal would hear the case (Note: the legal procedure in this Tribunal is simpler than those for the above two courts. For details, please go to the Judiciary's webpage or click here .)

Due to the extensive preparation work that is involved at the initial stage of personal injury claims, a lawyer should be appointed to handle the case. If there is financial difficulty in appointing a lawyer, an application for free or subsidised legal services available in Hong Kong may be considered.

The legal documents which are required and the court hearings/trials are highlighted as follows:

A) Documents to be prepared before the commencement of court proceedings

The plaintiff must issue a Letter Before Action to the defendant and his/her insurer no later than four months before the commencement of proceedings.

Within one month of receiving the Letter Before Action, the defendant must make a Constructive Reply (a preliminary reply to the Letter Before Action) to the plaintiff. Once the Constructive Reply is received by the plaintiff, the plaintiff may not commence legal proceedings for three months. During the three month period, the defendant investigates the claim, and makes a Further Reply that admits or denies liability with reasons. The defendant may also propose a settlement (that is to say, a proposal for settling the dispute without going to court).

B) Major documents to be prepared at (or after) the commencement of court proceedings

Once the three month period is exhausted, the plaintiff issues a Writ of Summons (different forms are used for High Court proceedings and District Court proceedings ), together with a Checklist Review Notice and a Checklist Review Date. The Checklist Review Date should be no earlier than 4 months but no later than 5 months from the date of the Writ.

The plaintiff must also serve the defendant a Statement of Claim (usually attached to the Writ of Summons, see above), together with a statement from the plaintiff's employer about the plaintiff's earnings and employment after the accident, and also statements from the plaintiff and other witnesses ( Witness Statements ) about the incident. If there are any Statements or Findings of Fact or Guilt about any criminal prosecution of the defendant, the plaintiff must also serve these documents on the defendant together with the Statement of Claim. A medical report must also be included.

A Statement of Damages that contains a summary of the plaintiff's injuries, the medical treatment received, the prognosis (if feasible), the details of the losses and any expenses already incurred, and the estimated future financial and non-financial losses must also be filed together with the Statement of Claim (see above).

After receiving the Writ, the defendant may file an Acknowledgement of Service (different forms are used for High Court proceedings and District Court proceedings ) of the Writ at the court registry within 14 days (if the Writ is delivered by the plaintiff or his/her solicitor by hand) or 21 days (if delivered by post).

Within 14 days of filing the Acknowledgment of Service, the defendant must file a Defence (stating all the grounds for denying the alleged liability), together with other documents, including any statements of the defendant and other witnesses ( Witness Statements ).

This leads to the Discovery of Documents, where both the plaintiff and the defendant must each disclose certain documents to the other side.

The Check List , along with any statutory record or report about the incident, and medical or other expert reports, must be filed by both parties at the court registry 7 days before the Check List Review (see below).

C) Preliminary hearings and the formal trial

The Check List Review then takes place. Directions or approvals may be given by the Court to allow further inspection of the documents, amendments to the documents, and to decide whether or not a Pre-Trial Review (see below) is necessary.

A Pre-Trial Review may take place at the direction of the Court or upon application by the parties. At the Pre-Trial Review, the judge fixes a trial date after hearing the availability of solicitors, barristers and witnesses. The judge may also consider the applications from the parties and make any necessary orders (e.g. to amend the previously issued documents).

The Trial then takes place. During the trial both parties submit their oral and written evidence, and may involve the cross-examination of witnesses. After hearing all of the evidence, the judge decides whether or not the defendant is liable for the claim and the relevant compensation is payable. Where the defendant has admitted liability before the trial, an Assessment of Damages will take place instead.

Remarks
The procedure for fatal accident claims is not significantly different from that of non-fatal accident claims. However, certain information about the deceased, the deceased's estate and the dependents of the deceased must also be provided.

The sample documents in the above hyperlinks are for reference only. Some documents are not currently available on the Judiciary's website. Legal advice must be sought before submitting the documents to the Court . Further details about the above court procedure can be obtained by reading the Practice Direction – 18.1 which is issued by the Judiciary.