Editorial | Tai Po fire highlights need for Hong Kong to allow class actions

The Tai Po fire, which claimed 168 lives and displaced almost 5,000 residents, has left many victims considering legal action. However, litigation can be complicated and costly, potentially denying victims access to the courts. Their plight has sparked renewed calls for Hong Kong to allow class actions in such cases.

The possibility has long been on the radar. A Law Reform Commission subcommittee was formed to study the topic 20 years ago. A final report was released in 2012. It recommended the gradual introduction of class actions, starting with consumer cases. The government set up a working group to consider the recommendations. But the proposals have not been implemented.

Class actions allow a legal issue shared by a large number of people to be settled in a single court case without each of them needing to bring a separate claim. They are permitted in other parts of the world, such as the United States. Hong Kong has a mechanism for “representative proceedings”, but this is limited in scope and was described by the chief justice’s working party on civil justice reform as inadequate for large-scale legal actions in 2004.

This is a complex issue that should be revisited in light of the fire. The objective is to ensure access to the legal system for people who cannot afford to bring their own case. That is a worthy pursuit.

There are valid concerns about class actions being abused by litigants and lawyers, flooding the courts with unmeritorious cases. The business sector might worry about costly and time-consuming lawsuits, but the commission took this into account when proposing an incremental approach with safeguards against such abuses, including the requirement that cases must be certified by a court.

If introduced with care, class actions could make court proceedings more efficient by removing the need for large numbers of litigants to bring separate cases on the same legal point. The Tai Po fire raises issues which inevitably need resolving in court. The judiciary has pledged to expedite such cases and lawyers are providing free advice. This is welcome, but the introduction of class actions, whether assisting fire victims, consumers or investors with legal claims, is worth considering, making justice more accessible.