TITLE:
Position of Lawful Act Duress in Economic Duress in Hong Kong—Elephant in the Room?
AUTHORS:
Timothy Hoi Yan Chow
KEYWORDS:
Lawful Act Duress, Economic Duress, Contract Law, Private Law, Hong Kong
JOURNAL NAME:
Beijing Law Review,
Vol.15 No.4,
November
29,
2024
ABSTRACT: Eighteen years have passed since the Hong Kong Court of Appeal’s judgment in Esquire (Electronics) Ltd v Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp Ltd [2007] 3 HKLRD 439 laid a landmark decision in Hong Kong courts’ ruling of economic duress. With Esquire being labelled cautionary treatment, the position of lawful act duress in Hong Kong has been rendered an elephant in the room until the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal clarifies. Upon analyzing the historical development of economic duress under English law, problem of economic duress confined to unlawful acts only in Australia, this article aims at banishing the bona fide, yet incomprehensive concerns regarding making a determination was not essential to justice in this case and could have been seen as unnecessary obiter comments. Concluding by shedding light on the importance of providing certainty and guidance to lower courts as well as future litigants on the scope of the law in Hong Kong, it is proposed that a ruling in position of lawful act duress in economic duress should be made.