Interlocutory or Final Orders: Pouring New Wine into Old Wineskins

Abstract

Whether a court order under appeal is interlocutory or final can be of immense legal and practical significance. In particular, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal has recently held that any decision made by a two-member panel of the Court of Appeal on appeal from an order which transpires to be a final one is a nullity so that the Court of Final Appeal has no jurisdiction to hear any further appeal on merits. This article examines three recent decisions of the Court of Final Appeal and concludes that notwithstanding these judicial pronouncements of the highest authority in Hong Kong, the waters are probably now muddier rather than clearer. There is therefore a need to formulate plain and workable statutory rules to deal with the problem.