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Personal injury proceedings are generally governed by Practice Direction 18.1. Parties are always encouraged to settle their cases by methods other than litigation, such as mediation, negotiation and without prejudice correspondence. Litigation should be the last resort in a dispute.
Common legal procedures in personal injury proceedings
There are some common legal procedures in personal injury proceedings. They include:
- The parties attempting to mediate or negotiate so that the matter can be settled out of court.
- If mediation or negotiation fails, the claiming party initiating the proceedings at the suitable court based on their amount of claim: The action should be commenced in the Small Claims Tribunal if it is $75,000 or below, in the District Court if it is higher than $75,000 but not more than $3 million, and in the Court of First Instance of the High Court if it is $3 million or above.
- The parties attending the Check List Review Hearing, the Case Management Conference and the Pre-Trial Review.
- The parties attending the trial and presenting their case to a judge by adducing evidence and putting forward their arguments.
- The judge considering the evidence and arguments.
- The judge making a decision.
- The losing party being ordered by the court to pay the legal costs to the winning party: The costs would include the amount of money that the winning party has spent on hiring lawyers and preparing and hearing the case. The amount of costs depends on the length of the case, the amount of preparation work required and the complexity of the case.
Important legal documents
There are also some important legal documents that are relevant to the common legal procedures in a personal injury case, such as:
- Letter before Action (filed by the claimant)
- Constructive Reply (filed by the defendant)
- Writ of Summons: In commencing a personal injury action, a Writ of Summons is the appropriate mode. The Writ is required to be accompanied by the prescribed Form 16C for admitting the claim. This Form can be found on the Judiciary’s website.
- Statement of Claim
- Statement of Damages:
- Defence: This needs to be filed with other documents required by Practice Direction 18.1, such as the defendant’s statement and other witnesses’ statements.
- Statement of Truth: A Statement of Truth should be included in both the Statement of Claim and the Statement of Damages. This complies with Practice Direction 19.3 and rules 2 and 5 of Order 41A of the Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A).
- The Check List Review Notice
- The Case Management Questionnaire
Is there a time limit for making a personal injury claim?
Generally, the limitation period for making a personal injury claim is three years from the date of the accident, the date when the claimant was injured or the date of knowledge of the injury (see section 27 of the Limitation Ordinance (Cap. 347)). If the claim is for a fatal accident, the limitation period to claim by the deceased’s dependent is also three years from the date of death or the date of knowledge of death (see section 28 of the Limitation Ordinance (Cap. 347)).
However, if the injured person is disabled, the limitation period of three years is not applicable to them until they die or cease to be disabled (see section 22 of the Limitation Ordinance (Cap. 347)). Even if you are subject to the three-year limitation period, the court still has discretion to extend this period if it is reasonable and fair to do so.
Key takeaways
- There are some common legal procedures to a personal injury case.
- However, it is better for the parties to attempt to mediate or negotiate before resorting to litigation so that the matter can be settled out of court and legal costs can be minimised.
- For each legal procedure, the parties may be required to submit or file certain documents.
