Hong Kong, SAR
It is not mandatory for a party in any legal action in Hong Kong to have legal representation. Where the party is a corporate entity, a natural person (such as a director or officer of the entity) may be appointed with the permission of the court to act on its behalf in the legal action.
In general, the claimant would have to file a writ of summons with the relevant court to start a civil action in Hong Kong.
Once the writ of summons has been duly served on the defendant’s legal representative, or by a bailiff on the defendant, the defendant must acknowledge service within 14 days (or, generally, 28 days if the defendant is served outside of Hong Kong with the court’s permission) and state whether it intends to defend the action. The parties will then exchange pleadings (such as statements of claim, if not already served together with the writ of summons, defences, and replies) which define the parameters of the dispute and the specific issues which are to be proved by each party. If a statement of claim was not served together with the writ of summons by the claimant, the claimant will need to file and serve it within 14 days of the defendant filing its acknowledgment of service and notice of intention to defend the action.
If the statement of claim was served together with the writ of summons by the claimant, the defendant has 28 days after the deadline for filing its acknowledgment of service to file and serve its defence. Otherwise, the defendant has 28 days after the relevant statement of claim has been served by the claimant to file and serve its defence. Thereafter, the claimant has 28 days to prepare its reply. In general, timelines prescribed by the rules of the court can be extended either by application to the court or through consent of the parties (without any application to the court).
Once the exchange of pleadings is complete, parties will undertake the disclosure process and go on to prepare their evidence (which includes witness statements and, if applicable, expert reports) for a final hearing of the dispute. Parties are generally obliged to attend court at regular intervals, during which orders are given to manage the conduct and timeframes of the case up until its final hearing.
The timeframe from the commencement of proceedings to handing down of judgment varies greatly depending on the complexity and case management style of an individual matter. Usually, relatively straightforward cases are ready to be set down for trial within two years from the commencement of proceedings. Complex cases, however, may take longer before they can be set down for trial.