The Department of Justice has launched a three-month consultation on more effective and extensive mediation in commercial and community disputes. At a press conference today Secretary for Justice Wong Yan Lung said the cross-sector working group on mediation...

SCMP reports signs of a government boycott of the forthcoming Legislative Council by-elections are emerging, with ministers shying away from saying if they will vote. Their reluctance to state their position comes after Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen...

The Standard reports a security guard appeared in court yesterday accused of stealing four gold tael bars worth about HK$1 million belonging to HSBC. Kwai Chung security company worker Lai Pak-hei, 27, entered no plea at Tsuen Wan Magistrates' Court...

SCMP reports piling work blamed by residents for the tilting of a building in Tai Kok Tsui was suspended yesterday. But they kept up their complaints and one moved out for fear it could collapse. The contractor agreed to suspend piling on an adjacent...

The Standard reports former security chief and lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee's think tank has called for the chief executive Election Committee to be expanded from 800 to 1,800 members in 2012. Savantas Policy Institute made a submission on constitutional...

The Standard reports calls are being made for veteran pro- democracy activist Szeto Wah to be allowed to visit the mainland to seek treatment for cancer - though whether he actually wants to go there is unclear. Szeto, the 79-year-old primary school principal-turned-politician,...

The Standard reports terrified lunchtime crowds looked on as a mother hurled her young daughter from a Kowloon shopping mall - and then jumped to her death. The 4-1/2-year-old girl was saved by a safety net, but it failed to hold her mother who plunged...

The Standard reports there may be more trouble in store for fung shui master Tony Chan Chun- chuen, currently at the center of a forgery investigation. A legal expert claims Chan may also face perjury charges after a High Court judge ruled that a will...

Wintrend Creative Limited and its director were today (February 4) fined $104,000 and $98,000 respectively at the Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts for wage and annual leave pay offences under the Employment Ordinance. The company and the director were also ordered...

SCMP reports doctors have been warned that foul language and offensive gestures could cost them their licences. The Medical Council's ethics committee laid out new guidelines yesterday, which classify "abusive language" and "disgraceful...

The Standard reports fung shui master Tony Chan Chun- chuen was arrested yesterday in the wake of a High Court judge's ruling that a will giving him Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum's HK$100 billion estate is a forgery. Police took away 50-year-old Chan - who...

The Standard reports the son-in-law of a late High Court judge has been jailed for eight years for swindling his father-in-law and five other Hongkongers out of more than HK$19 million. Kevin Slattery earlier admitted to swindling the late Justice Thomas...

SCMP reports the Court of Appeal yesterday upheld the constitutionality of the government's schools management reforms in 2004, which the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong said would remove its autonomy in running its schools. The court judgment said the...

The Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Bureau says it supports the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data's plan to form a group to enhance the body's compliance and management work, and strengthen its governance. In response to the...

Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Rita Lau has reiterated the Government's commitment to safeguarding the rights of consumers and trademark owners. She told lawmakers today a multi-pronged approach, involving law enforcement, publicity...

China Daily reports pro-establishment political parties plan to distance themselves from the coming by-elections precipitated by resignation of five legislators of the opposition camp, whose campaign has intensified from de facto "referendum"...

The Standard reports a proposed law to ensure regular safety checks on old buildings could take effect by early next year - a year sooner than expected, lawmakers hope. The expedited legal move comes after a five-story tenement in To Kwa Wan turned...

The Standard reports he lost the HK$100 billion "Battle of the Wills" and was branded a liar by a judge, he's in line to be investigated by police over what was found to be a faked will, and the taxman could hit him with an enormous bill. But...

SCMP reports more than a third of the 300-odd pages of the judgment in the Nina Wang probate battle was devoted to analysing the signatures on the will fung shui master Tony Chan Chun-chuen claimed left him her fortune of at least HK$10 billion. Chan...

The Standard reports security chiefs stood their ground in the face of intense questioning from lawmakers over their use of force during an anti-Express Rail Link protest outside the Legislative Council last month. At a meeting of the Legislative Council...

The Law Reform Commission has recommended employers be allowed to check the criminal records of people working with children and the mentally handicapped. The commission's Review of Sexual Offences Sub-committee Chairman Peter Duncan said the interim measure...

Bloomberg reports late billionaire Nina Wang’s fortune belongs to the Chinachem Charitable Foundation Ltd., Hong Kong’s High Court ruled while rejecting a claim to the estate by feng shui practitioner Tony Chan. A 2002 will giving the money...

The Standard reports a police officer described by a High Court judge as a "sexual predator" who is serving a 12-year jail term has had a year added to his sentence for using a police computer to check if his intended victims were attractive....

SCMP reports the dramatic collapse of a building in To Kwa Wan on Friday has triggered calls for urban renewal projects to be speeded up and reprioritised by revamping the system as soon as possible. One suggestion is for the Urban Renewal Authority...

The Standard reports the answer will be announced in the High Court today when Justice Johnson Lam Man-hon delivers his ruling in the "Battle of the Wills" - a drama that gripped Hong Kong last year with claims of secret sex plus a staggering...

A Mainland woman, 26, and a Hong Kong man, 43, have been jailed by Sha Tin Magistracy for using a fake travel document and making a false representation to immigration officers. The pair arrived in Hong Kong together on August 31 via the Lok Ma Chau Spur-line...

SCMP reports urgent checks on the safety of all buildings more than 50 years old were ordered yesterday after a 55-year-old block of flats in a run-down part of Kowloon collapsed, killing at least three people, in the worst incident of its kind in the city...

The Standard reports a malicious and vigorous struggle over political reforms will only deepen conflicts within society, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen warned yesterday - three weeks before the end of public consultation on constitutional reform....

The Standard reports two leading pro-establishment political forces will boycott by-elections triggered by the resignation of five pan-democratic lawmakers. The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Federation...

SCMP reports demand for public health services in Hong Kong is becoming acute, but health authorities are failing to spot non-residents and charge them the higher fees they are supposed to pay, the Ombudsman says. Alan Lai Nin, appointed ombudsman early...