Injunction

What is an Injunction  ?

An injunction is a civil Court order that prohibits a company or person from doing a particular act or thing (called a "prohibitory injunction") or compels the company or person to do a particular act or thing (a "mandatory injunction").

 

Some examples of injunction order:

• In Business or Commercial Disputes context, injunction order may be applied for from the Court to prevent the improper removal or possession of company information, customers data, etc and to compel the wrongful party to return the information and data obtained and account for the profits made;
• In Online fraud contact, victim may apply to the Court for injunction order to freeze the assets and bank accounts of the fraudster and to stop the dissipation of assets of the fraudster;
• In Online or Social Media context, injunction order may be applied for from the Court to prevent the publication of private, confidential, defamatory and/or inaccurate information or removal of online content.

For urgent cases and/or if it is in the public interests to preserve the status quo, for example, if there is real risk that assets or funds will be dissipated or evidence will be destroyed, application can be made to the Court for an interim injunction.

The interim injunction can remain in force for a particular period of time, for example, until the matter comes to trial or the Court makes any further order. When the case comes to trial, the Court will decide whether or not to make a "final" injunction. If the claim succeeds at trial, the Court can grant a permanent injunction. A permanent injunction cannot be granted unless/until the claim succeeds.

 

Breach of Injunction Order

This is a serious matter. If a person or company disobeys an injunction order, this can amount to Contempt of Court, which can result in the wrongdoer being imprisoned, fined or having their assets seized.

Whether there is contempt of court order depends on the facts and circumstances of each case.

Generally, the objectives of the Court in the decision of imposing a prison term and/or fine are:

(a)    To mark the Court’s disapproval of the disobedience or breach of the injunction Order;

(b)    To secure compliance with that injunction Order for the future.

 

 

For legal advice or services on injunction, please contact CHOW & CHEUNG, Hong Kong Solicitors & Notary Public

Tel: +852 2856 3799   Email: cac@ccsn.hk

www.ccsn.hk

 

 

The above contents do not constitute legal advice and it should not be regarded as a substitute for detailed advice in individual cases. Transmission of this information is not intended to create and receipt does not constitute a lawyer-client relationship between Chow & Cheung and the user or browser. Chow & Cheung is not responsible for any third party content which can be accessed through the website.