Hong Kong Regulations

MATRIMONIAL CAUSES RULES - RULE 16

Supplemental petition and amendment of petition

Caution: This is a past version. See the current version here.

PLEADINGS AND AMENDMENT

(1) A supplemental petition may be filed only with leave.

(2) A petition may be amended without leave before it is served but only with
leave after it has been served.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), an application for leave under this rule-

   (a)  may, if every opposite party consents in writing to the supplemental
        petition being filed or the petition being amended, be made ex parte
        by lodging in the registry the supplemental petition or a copy of the
        petition as proposed to be amended, and

   (b)  shall, in any other case, be made on notice (or in the High Court by
        summons), to be served, unless otherwise directed, on every opposite
        party. (L.N. 346 of 1982)

(4) The registrar may, if he thinks fit, require an application for leave to
be supported by an affidavit.

(5) An order granting leave shall-

   (a)  where any party has given notice of intention to defend, fix the time
        within which his answer must be filed or amended;

   (b)  where the order is made after directions for trial have been given,
        provide for a stay of the hearing until after the directions have been
        renewed.

(6) An amendment authorized to be made under this rule shall be made by filing
a copy of the amended petition.

(7) Rules 11 and 13 shall apply to a supplemental or amended petition as they
apply to the original petition.