Further to our articles dated 26 November 2020 and 25 February 2021, the Appeal Committee of the Court of Final Appeal today handed down its Reasons for Determination in New Castle Investments Ltd v. Foo Wai Lok and Others [2021] HKCFA 5.
At paragraphs 12-13, Ribeiro PJ (giving the Reasons of the Court, also consisting of the learned Chief Justice and Fok PJ) rejected the reliance on an alleged implied term which requires a landlord to have recourse to the rental deposit first, instead of pursuing a monetary claim against the tenant.
Interestingly, while the applicant no longer relied upon the construction arguments advanced and accepted at first instance (as overturned by the Court of Appeal in [2020] HKCA 931 and [2020] HKCA 755), Ribeiro PJ (at paragraph 11) considered the Court of Appeal’s reasoning to be “compelling and would have had grave doubts as to the arguability of the arguments to the contrary“.
Michael Lok and Euchine Ng acted for the landlord, both at first instance and on appeal, who were led by Edward Chan SC in [2020] HKCA 755 and in [2021] HKCFA 5 (and by Jenkin Suen SC in [2020] HKCA 931).
Tommy Cheung acted for the tenant and the personal guarantors in [2020] HKCA 931 and in [2021] HKCFA 5.