Butterworths Hong Kong Family Law Handbook, 3rd Edition

Your authoritative legal resource on family law.

This handbook is a detailed work of reference containing up to date commentary of 12 Ordinances, including the Guardianship of Minors Ordinance (Cap 13), Separation and Maintenance Orders Ordinance (Cap 16), Law Amendment and Reform (Consolidation) Ordinance (Cap 23), Marriage Reform Ordinance (Cap 178), Matrimonial Causes Ordinance (Cap 179), Marriage Ordinance (Cap 181), Married Persons Status (Cap 182), Legitimacy Ordinance (Cap 184), Domestic Violence Ordinance (Cap 189), Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Ordinance (Cap 192), Adoption Ordinance (Cap 290), Parent and Child Ordinance (Cap 429) and other relevant subsidiary legislation governing family law and practice in Hong Kong. 

What's new in this edition

This new edition discusses the following recent significant cases:

• AB v MAW [2017] where the Court of Appeal held that a judge who had participated in the unsuccessful Financial Dispute Resolution hearings of the parties should not thereafter hear and determine matters relating to their ancillary relief application.
• CYYC v TVKT [2017] where the Family Court stated that it would be wrong for the injunction to cover the entirety of the matrimonial assets and there should be a maximum limit in terms of the amount that the applicant could realistically obtain from the matrimonial proceedings.
• OMH v MT [2017] where the Court of Appeal explained the burden and standard of proof and the function of public policy in an application for declaration of parentage under the Parent and Child Ordinance where the putative parent could not be located or took no part and where there was not available before the court any evidence of scientific tests of parentage.
• Re WS (Minor) (Jurisdiction: Substantial Connection) [2017] where the Family Court considered that a child has substantial connection with Hong Kong for the purposes of the Parent and Child Ordinance on factual bases that he was born in Hong Kong and has regular physical presence in Hong Kong by attending kinder garten here by commuting daily from Shenzhen in Mainland China.

This Handbook reproduces the text of the Ordinances as currently in force, together with details on all amendments and repeals. 

This Handbook also provides section by section annotations to the Ordinances. These annotations, which have been adopted from The Annotated Ordinances of Hong Kong series, are succinct and easy to read. They encompass significant judicial decisions and rules of court, as well as notes ranging from definitions of words and phrases to discussions on practical aspects and contentious issues relating to particular sections and other authoritative materials. Furthermore, the annotations are fully cross-referenced, and the Handbook comes with comprehensive tables of cases and legislation referred to.

This series has been cited, with authority, in over one hundred court cases in the Hong Kong Court of First Instance, Court of Appeal, and Court of Final Appeal. This Handbook will be an invaluable source of reference for family law practitioners, mediation co-ordinators, judicial officers, academics and all others who are engaged or interested in the administration of family law in Hong Kong.