Kingston Securities Ltd v Lee

Kingston Securities Ltd sought to enforce a judgment from the High Court of Hong Kong against Lee. Lee applied to set aside the registration of that judgment under section 7(2)(a)(v) of the Foreign Judgments Act 1991 (Cth), arguing that he did not receive notice of the Hong Kong proceedings in time to defend and did not appear before the Hong Kong Court. The primary legal issue was whether Lee's subsequent motion to set aside the Hong Kong judgment constituted an appearance within the meaning of the Act. The court found that Lee did not appear in the Hong Kong proceedings and, consequently, set aside the registration of the foreign judgment.

In addition to the application to set aside the foreign judgment, Kingston Securities Ltd also sought an order for monies paid by Lee into Court by consent order to be transferred to the Hong Kong Court or, alternatively, to remain in Court pending a proposed claim by Kingston Securities Ltd against Lee. The court rejected this application on multiple grounds. Notably, the court held that the consent order required the monies to abide by the orders of the Australian Court, not the Hong Kong Court. Furthermore, the court determined that Lee's entitlement to have the registered judgment set aside was not contingent upon the monies remaining in Court pending the proposed proceedings by Kingston Securities Ltd. Consequently, the application to transfer or retain the monies was dismissed.