Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Eric Cheung Comments on Hong Kong Suit Against Chinese Mayor of Jinan (SCMP)

"China Shanshui Cement subsidiaries sue mainland Chinese mayor and deputy for conspiracy in Hong Kong court"
Chris Lau and Sijia Jiang
South China Morning Post
8 March 2016
The mayor of Jinan (濟南) and his deputy from the northern province of Shandong (山東) have been sued in a Hong Kong court over an alleged conspiracy relating to ­assets belonging to the subsidiaries of a debt-laden mainland ­cement company. But the lack of local ties from the parties might suggest the rare case could end up being a publicity stunt rather than a legitimate legal battle.
     China Pioneer Cement (Hong Kong) Company and Shandong Shanshui Cement Group Company – subsidiaries of the Hong Kong-listed China Shanshui ­Cement Group – are suing Jinan mayor Yang Luyu and his deputy Su Shuwei over an alleged conspiracy with their former directors, according to a court writ filed on Friday.
     This essentially means that the plaintiffs are suing two mainland officials for allegations which took place on the mainland. One of the plaintiffs, Shandong Cement, is also a company incorporated across the border.
     This raised questions as to how court documents could be served and court decisions enforced across two jurisdictions, a lawyer and legal scholar noted...
     But in this case, the documents would have to be served to mainland residents.
     University of Hong Kong legal scholar Eric Cheung Tat-ming said the plaintiffs could either use an official channel, via the Hong Kong courts or assign their own mainland lawyers.
     The former, as stated in the Basic Law, involves the plaintiffs handing the documents over to the Hong Kong courts, which would then pass them to mainland courts for service .
     Cheung, who said the system was reliable, added: “I am not sure whether it would be another story serving [documents] to a mayor.”
     Cheung also said the plaintiffs had first to satisfy the local courts under High Court rules, before ­accessing the channel... Click here to read the full article.

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