法律援助署五十周年紀念特刊 | Legal Aid Department 50th Anniversary Commemorative Publication

法律援助署五十周年紀念特刊 P.63 Judgment of Court of Final Appeal ． The legal liability of the incorporated owners, if any, should be determined by applying the law of public nuisance. ． Occupiers of land generally come under a duty to remove any nuisance hazard on or emanating from the land, or at least to prevent such hazard from injuring members of the public. ． A defendant may be held liable for public nuisance on the basis of his positive act or his omission. The present case has been approached on the basis of an omission on the part of the incorporated owners. ． The Court unanimously allows the appeal. 終審法院的判決 ． 應按照「對公眾造成妨擾」的法律來裁定業主立 案法團的法律責任(如有的話)。 ． 土地的佔用人一般都有責任消除在該土地內或從 該土地引起的任何妨擾及危險，又或至少要避免 這類危險傷害公眾人士。 ． 一名被告人可基於其「作為」或「不作為」而被 裁定須就對公眾造成妨擾負上法律責任，本案基 於有關業主立案法團的「不作為」而作出裁決。 ． 終審法院一致裁定上訴得直。 Grounds of Appeal ． According to the Building Management Ordinance which stipulates the duties and powers of an owners’ incorporation, the owners’ incorporation is in effect the corporate embodiment of the owners collectively, possessing and exercising such control over the common parts of the building. 上訴理據 ． 根據《建築物管理條例》對業主立案法團的職責 和權力所作的規定，業主立案法團實際上是一個 由眾多業主組成的團體，共同管有及控制有關建 築物的公用部分。 Grounds of Response ． Only when there is “occupational control” will there be a duty giving rise to an actionable omission, and the owners’ incorporation plainly do not have such control. 答辯理據 ． 法團方面必須對有關加建部分有「佔用性的控制 權」，才能構成一項可就其不作為而提出訴訟的 責任，但法團顯然沒有此控制權。 Going Forward ． The Court of Final Appeal made an authoritative decision in this case: incorporated owners (IO) are responsible where they know or ought to know the existence of a nuisance hazard endangering members of the public. ． Where any part of, or anything annexed to, the common parts of a building falls off as a result of its hazardous state and causes death, injury or damage in the street below, the IO are liable in nuisance for the consequences if they knew or ought to have known of the hazard but had unreasonably failed to remove it. ． Building Management (Third Party Risks Insurance) Regulation, which stipulates the mandatory requirement for owners' corporations to procure third party risks insurance to cover liabilities in relation to the common parts of a building and the properties of owners’ corporations, took effect on 1 January 2011. 發展路向 ． 終審法院對這案件作出了權威性的判決：如業主立 案法團知道或應當知道有妨擾危險存在並對公眾 構成危險的話，便須承擔法律責任。 ． 大廈公用部分的任何部分或任何附屬部分因其危險 狀況而致墮下令街上有人傷亡或引致損害，倘若 法團已知道或應該知道有該危險存在並可及時將 之移除，卻沒有合理解釋為何沒有採取行動，則 須為有關妨擾的後果承擔法律責任。 ． 《建築物管理（第三者風險保險）規例》於2011 年1月1日生效，強制要求業主立案法團購買第三 者風險保險，以涵蓋業主立案法團與建築物的公 共部分和其財產有關的法律責任。