TNAG-1731-FCO40-2444-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 221

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ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE (MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS) BILL 1988

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL moved the Second Reading of: 'A Bill to make better provision for the administration of justice in relation to the jurisdiction of the courts and tribunals and for connected purposes'.

He said:

Sir,

I move that the Administration of Justice

the

(Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 1988 be read a second time.

三

The main purpose of this Bill is to increase the

limits of jurisdiction of the District Court in civil matters and

of the Small Claims Tribunal. The Bill also makes one or two

other changes which I will come to in a moment.

At present, the District Court has general jurisdiction to deal with claims in contract or tort where the amount claimed is, or is worth, not more than $60,000; similarly, in relation to such matters as the administration of an estate or of trust

property the District Court has jurisdiction where the property is worth not more than $60,000. Where the proceedings are for the recovery of land or relate to the title to land, the jurisdiction limit is that the rateable or annual value of the

land must be not more than $45,000. These limits were set in

1983, five years ago.

The present position in the Small Claims Tribunal is that it has jurisdiction to deal with a range of civil matters

where the amount involved is, or is worth, not more than $8,000. That This limit was set in 1986.

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