THE INCORPORATED OWNERS OF SUN HING BUILDING V. JOIN PROFIT (HONG KONG) LTD AND ANOTHER (and 3 others)
Outcome
Appeal allowedI would allow the appeal on the basis that the Tribunal was wrong to find, either as a matter of construction or as an implied term, that the IO could terminate the Agreement unilaterally by reasonable notice without cause.
Source: [2024] HKCA 589, Court of Appeal, decided 3 July 2024. Read directly from the judgment.
Judges (3)
Counsel (8)
Case Significance
The Incorporated Owners of Sun Hing Building v. Join Profit (Hong Kong) Ltd and Another (and 3 others) [2024] HKCA 589 is a Court of Appeal decision from July 2024. The court allowed the appeal, holding that '...the Tribunal was wrong to find, either as a matter of construction or as an implied term, that the IO could terminate the Agreement unilaterally by reasonable notice without cause.' The judgment cites the Court of Final Appeal's decision in The Hong Kong Polytechnic University v. Rehabaid Society [2024] HKCFA 13. The litigation continued in later proceedings involving the same incorporated owners, including The Incorporated Owners of Sun Hing Building v. Join Profit (Hong Kong) Ltd and Another (and 1 other) [2024] HKCA 943 and, at the Court of Final Appeal, The Incorporated Owners of Sun Hing Building (新興大廈業主立案法團) v. Join Profit (Hong Kong) Limited (聯耀(香港)有限公司), Glory River Development Limited (濠江發展有限公司) (and 1 other) [2025] HKCFA 5. It has also been referenced in unrelated incorporated-owners disputes such as Lok Kin Chuen v. The Incorporated Owners of Lockhart House [2025] HKDC 1658 and The Incorporated Owners of Haiphong Mansion v. James S. Lee & Company (Kowloon) Ltd and Another [2025] HKLdT 54.
What did the Court of Appeal decide in The Incorporated Owners of Sun Hing Building v. Join Profit (Hong Kong) Ltd and Another ([2024] HKCA 589)?
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in The Incorporated Owners of Sun Hing Building v. Join Profit (Hong Kong) Ltd and Another (and 3 others) [2024] HKCA 589, finding the Tribunal wrong to hold that the IO could terminate the Agreement unilaterally by reasonable notice without cause.
What earlier authority did the court rely on in The Incorporated Owners of Sun Hing Building v. Join Profit (Hong Kong) Ltd ([2024] HKCA 589)?
The Court of Appeal's 2024 ruling in The Incorporated Owners of Sun Hing Building v. Join Profit (Hong Kong) Ltd and Another (and 3 others) [2024] HKCA 589 drew on the Court of Final Appeal's decision in The Hong Kong Polytechnic University v. Rehabaid Society [2024] HKCFA 13.
Did The Incorporated Owners of Sun Hing Building's dispute with Join Profit continue beyond the Court of Appeal ([2024] HKCA 589)?
Yes. Following [2024] HKCA 589 and a further Court of Appeal ruling [2024] HKCA 943, the dispute reached the Court of Final Appeal as The Incorporated Owners of Sun Hing Building (新興大廈業主立案法團) v. Join Profit (Hong Kong) Limited and Another (and 1 other) [2025] HKCFA 5.
Statutes Cited
Cases Cited (21)
Cited By (5)
Citation influence
HKLII records this judgment as cited by 6 later judgments. This counts every later Hong Kong judgment that references this case, which is broader than the resolved citations listed above.
Related cases
Other Hong Kong judgments involving the same parties or counsel.
Judgment
Read the full judgment on the official Hong Kong Courts portal.
Read on HKLIISource: HKLII ([2024] HKCA 589)