We are all familiar with the notion that Hong Kong follows the common law system. What that means, at a high level of generality, is that decisions of the courts – that is, judge-made law – are a key source of law for us.

Given how important judicial decisions are to our legal system and indeed our lives, it is perhaps a little surprising how few people know where to find this law. A question I frequently encounter, from friends here and abroad, is: “Where can I find these court decisions?”

On the website, you will find all the judgments and decisions of the Hong Kong courts, current and historical, which you can easily search for and identify by reference to the case number, the names of the parties, the judge who decided the matter, or through a keyword search.

There are a few exceptions – for example, cases involving children or people with mental disabilities, intellectual property cases and arbitration-related matters – where the need to preserve confidentiality is considered to outweigh that of open justice.

In these types of cases the court hearings will generally not be open to the public, and the judgments will not be published.