Small Claims Tribunal Hong Kong: how to file a claim

The Small Claims Tribunal hears money claims of up to HK$75,000 based on a contract, quasi-contract or tort (a civil wrong, such as damage to your property). Hearings are informal and no lawyer may represent either side, so it is built for individuals and small businesses acting for themselves. The one thing to get right before you file is the other side’s exact legal name and address, because the Tribunal serves your claim where you tell it to.

What the Tribunal hears

The Judiciary’s Small Claims Tribunal page lists the usual claims as debts, service charges, damage to property, goods sold and consumer claims. Some disputes belong elsewhere:

• Employment claims go to the Labour Tribunal.
• Possession of land, alimony, maintenance, libel and defamation are outside the Tribunal’s work.

If your claim is worth more than HK$75,000, you cannot divide it into several claims to fit under the limit. The Judiciary says you may abandon the amount above HK$75,000 and bring the rest here. Abandoning means giving that excess up, so decide before you file.

Who can file, and who can speak for you

An individual or a company can claim. The Tribunal’s FAQ says that if a company is the claimant, a director, the company secretary or an authorised officer should sign. Someone else can file the claim for you, and no appointment letter is needed just to file it.

At the hearings, no solicitor or barrister may act for either side. An individual can ask the Tribunal to let another person attend instead. That person needs a letter of authorisation you have signed, the Tribunal’s permission and full knowledge of the case. Without good reasons and evidence, the Tribunal may refuse.

Time limits for bringing a claim depend on what the claim is about. They are set by the Limitation Ordinance (Cap. 347). If the events are several years old, check that first.

Before you file

1. Find the defendant’s full name and last known address. Section 13 of the Small Claims Tribunal Ordinance (Cap. 338) puts this on you, the claimant.
2. If the defendant is a company, run a company search at the Companies Registry for its exact name and registered office. If it trades under another name, also check its business registration to confirm the trade name. Bring the search results to the first hearing.
3. Gather your evidence: the contract or quotation, invoices, receipts, messages, photos and any letters asking for payment. Make copies.
4. Work out the exact sum you are claiming and how you reached it.

How to file a claim

1. If you have questions about procedure, the Small Claims Tribunal Information Centre on 1/F, Tower B, West Kowloon Law Courts Building, 501 Tung Chau Street, Sham Shui Po, helps people before they file.
2. Complete the claim form. Use the Registry’s instructions for completing Form 1 and the forms on the Small Claims Tribunal forms page.
3. File the form at the Registry on 3/F, Tower B of the same building and pay the filing fee. The Registry is open Monday to Friday, 8:45am to 1pm and 2pm to 5:30pm, and closed on weekends and public holidays.
4. The Registrar serves a copy of your claim and a notice of hearing on each defendant at the address you gave.
5. By law, the first hearing must be fixed within 60 days of filing. After filing, send your questions to the Registry, not the Information Centre.

The Judiciary’s electronic filing system covers some Small Claims Tribunal work. Check the e-filing FAQ for the Tribunal before you rely on filing online.

Filing fees

The Judiciary’s published fee table sets the filing fee by the amount you claim:

The same fees apply to a counterclaim. Other steps, such as a review or enforcement, carry their own fees. Check the current fee table before you pay.

What happens at the hearings

A case usually moves through three stages: the call-over, one or more mention hearings, and the trial. An Adjudicator (the judge of the Tribunal) may ask a Tribunal Officer to interview both sides. The officer can sort the case into defended or undefended, help you reach a voluntary settlement and pin down the issues in dispute. Tribunal Officers cannot give legal advice.

Bring originals and copies of your documents to every hearing, along with your company search if the defendant is a company.

After the award: review, appeal and enforcement

• Review. File Form 8C, with your full reasons and the fee, within 7 days after the date of the award or order. The time limit is strict. The review is normally heard by the same Adjudicator, who is not bound by the earlier findings of fact.
• Appeal. Apply to the Court of First Instance for leave to appeal within 7 days after the written award is served on you, or within 7 days after written reasons are served if you asked for them in time. Leave is only given on a point of law or where the claim was outside the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. The court cannot change findings of fact, and a refusal of leave is final. You may instruct lawyers for an appeal.
• Enforcement. If the other side does not pay, apply at the Tribunal Registry for a writ of fieri facias (a court order to seize and sell goods), pay the fee, then deliver the writ to the Bailiff Office with a deposit for expenses. The bailiff can seize goods and sell them at public auction. The bailiff has no power to break into domestic premises.

When to get a lawyer anyway

Lawyers cannot speak for you at the hearings, but you can still pay for advice before you file, or instruct a lawyer if the case goes to appeal. If you do, instruct a Hong Kong solicitor and check them on the Law Society’s Law List. You can compare firms in our law directory. If money is the problem, read about legal aid before you decide.

We are not the Judiciary, and this is not legal advice.