In a dispute that has already reached the Supreme People’s Court in Mainland China once and the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal on three separate occasions, First Laser Ltd (

), owned by the Macanese tycoon Ngan In Leng (

, has since 2001 been locked in litigation with Fujian Enterprises (Holdings) Ltd (

), a window company of the Fujian Provincial Government.

In 2024, despite the already extensive proceedings up to that point, FL and Ngan started a new action in the Fujian Court against FEHL for RMB 900M (

) and sought ancillary interim relief in Hong Kong (

). FL argued that the new claims addressed matters not previously resolved. This attempt at re-litigation ultimately resulted in the grant of an anti-suit injunction (

) against FL and Ngan for abuse of process: 

The underlying disputes arose from a joint venture for the development of optronics fibers. In 2007, FL was first awarded judgment for over US$30 million. On appeal, the Court of Appeal set aside the first instance judgment and remitted the issue of restitution for determination at first instance. The Court of Final Appeal dismissed FL’s interlocutory appeal and final appeal in 2012.

In 2020, the remitter judgment was entered in favour of FL for over HK$250 million. Yet, in 2023, the Court of Appeal allowed FEHL’s appeal and substituted it with a judgment for HK$5.5m only. The matter finally reached the Court of Final Appeal for the third time, where FL’s application for leave to appeal was dismissed and the law on the scope of remitter was clarified: 

Following these setbacks, FL and Ngan initiated the New Mainland Action in 2024 and opposed FEHL’s payment out application, alleging a risk of dissipation based on findings in the previous judgments. As a result, FEHL applied to the Hong Kong court for an ASI to restrain FL and Ngan from proceeding with the New Mainland Action and to dismiss the s21M application.

In the recent ruling, the Court, after considering 

 and abuse of process, granted the ASI. The Court affirmed its jurisdiction to grant an ASI to protect the integrity of its process, and made clear that it may restrain a litigant from re-litigating matters already adjudicated in Hong Kong:

 Masri v. Consolidated Contractors (No. 3)

 [2009] QB 503. The Court also dismissed the s21M Application, finding that there was no unjustified dissipation as FEHL was merely seeking payment out of funds in court to which it was entitled under the previous judgments.

A summary of the CFA’s remitter judgment can be found 

, instructed by Kwok Yih & Chan, acted for FEHL.

Members

Recruitment

Mentions

More on Recent Judgments

Swansong of a Two-Decade Legal Battle?

About

Members

Recruitment

What's New