Mr Gordon Chan and Mr Wilson Yuen handled nine fire summonses on behalf of a flat owner who was unable to return to Hong Kong from mainland China. Unusually, the fault lay with the management company of a new building, which led to the prosecution of all 31 owners.
In KCS 41572-80/2024, Mr Gordon Chan and Mr Wilson Yuen handled a case involving nine fire summonses for a flat owner residing in mainland China who was unable to return to Hong Kong. All the summonses concern failing to have an annual fire service installation inspection by a contractor, as required by Regulation 8 of the Fire Service (Installations and Equipment) Regulations (Cap 95B), for various installations.
The case is unusual in two ways. First, the case involved a new building managed by a company responsible for arranging inspections by contractors. Second, the building has no incorporated owners. Hence, dozens of individual owners were prosecuted instead of a single entity which represented all the owners.
While the first is a forceful mitigating factor, the latter is relevant to assessing the responsibility of individual owners. In this case, the number of shares of a flat in a multi-story building is crucial, as the level of responsibility should not depend on whether a legal entity of incorporated owners has been formed or not. Thus, the typical level of fines imposed against the IOs is not directly comparable.
In this case, the court accepted the above and imposed fine of $600 for each summons.
In cases involving multi-story buildings, care must be taken to consider the responsibility of individual owners so that the fine is not disproportionate to the severity of the crime involved.
Gordon Chan, Esq
Barrister-at-law, Archbold Hong Kong Editor on Public Health, and Member of the Bar Association's Committee on Criminal Law and Procedure. Specialised in medical, technology and criminal law.
Wilson Yuen, Esq
Barrister-at-law of the High Court of Hong Kong
