【Acrylic Painting by Dennis Tang】
(Paintings and Photos may not be relevant to the incident described)
In 1994, the canopy of a seafood restaurant situated at Albert House in Aberdeen collapsed, resulting in one killed and 17 others injured.
The Court held that the Owners’ corporation (OC) of Albert House and other related parties were liable for compensation to the victims, which amounted to more than HK$30 million and cost. The OC did not have third party liability insurance, it was unable to pay the compensation and eventually wound up. Each of the individual owners was then liable and had to pay a portion of the compensation for his share of the liability. If individual owners are unable to pay compensation, they may be forced into bankruptcy.
The legal proceeding continued for more than 10 years, until with the assistance of relevant government departments and the participation of the mediator lawyers from the “Hong Kong Mediation Council”, adopted mediation instead of litigation, an acceptable solution to all parties was finally found.
