A Canadian guy (non-hk resident/tourist visa) has money dispute with one of our Directors in the Company. Our Director offered to pay him back, but this guy wants more, and refused the initial re-payment offer, and resorted to various harassments and intimidation tactics. Since he cannot get to our Director, he is concentrating all his energies on me, coz he thought that if he can send me packing from HK, he can pressure our other Director to give in to what he wants. He made a website putting my "so-called" and "non-existing" crimes. He tailored stories. He cut & pasted photos. He even posted posters all around Central and some districts of HK that our Company is for Closure and that we have various legal cases, all untrue and wild tailored stories. If I resort to legal (getting a lawyer), I am not sure if the laws of HK can be applied to him since he is just a tourist here but been living here for quite a while. What is the best course of action? Replies and any form of advise will be highly appreciated! Thank you in advance.
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Of course the laws of HK apply to him. I think the company hosting his website may also be liable.
You can check out the Defamation Ordinance (Cap. 21) on the government's website.
Suggest you contact a lawyer.
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Thanks Claire! This is highly appreciated. I've reported this to the Police. They can only do something about the phone calls/sms threats that are being done from midnight to early mornings. They considered this as Telephone Nuisance only. However, it is very sad that they cannot do anything about the posters/website/email threats. They said it is beyond Police Authorities. Surely there must a law about putting posters without required permits? The Guy posted even my passport and other personal info in the website. Surely there must be a law in HK (again) about invasion of privacy?
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To the best of my knowledge, defamation in this instance is a civil case, i.e. a plaintiff (you) sues the defendant (him), not a criminal one - unless the police nab him for littering or trespassing...
The onus is on you to prove defamation. Capture the website. Confirm ownership of the website through Register.com. Take photos of the posters. You will need to gather as much evidence as possible.
The Privacy Act covers personal data so you would have to show you have a case against misuse of data collected by a firm. It is weak on civil remedies (this is still at the report stage). The PCPD would deal with the former.
http://www.pcpd.org.hk/english/enquiries/complaint_handling.html
At least a talk with a lawyer who has experience in libel in HK will be able to let you know where you stand.
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Thanks again Claire. Any idea how much a lawyer could cost for this type of case and where I can find them? We have actually gathered evidences. We have copies of the posters that we removed from different areas. Photos. Print-screen shot of the website. SMS threats, Email threats, diary of phonecalls in the middle of the night till early a.m. I've tried to compile as much as I can, and it's one huge file now.
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I don't know of the costs, but could suggest a couple - not personally recommend as I haven't used them for this. PM me for names.
BTW, take photos of the posters while up to show they were "published". And confirm ownership of the website through Register - he could say it's not his.
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If all his allegations are untrue and defamatory in nature, you may issue a defamation claim. Even if he is not a Hong Kong resident, he has to comply with the HK laws. However, the difficulty is how to get him to Court and how to enforce the judgment if you win. We need more information and if you want, we can arrange a meeting with you at the cost of HK$2,500.00 per conference of one hour.
Weir & Associates
Solicitors & Notaries
2108 Gloucester Tower
The Landmark
15 Queens Road Central
Hong Kong
Tel : 2526-1767
Fax : 2868-3568
email : weirlaw@hongkonglaw.com
www.HongKongLaw.com/weirlaw
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