PRACTICE DIRECTION – 23.1

WARDS OF COURT

　

1.        Every originating summons by which application is made to make a child a ward of court shall contain the following endorsement:

“IMPORTANT NOTICE: It is a contempt of Court, which may be punished by imprisonment, to take any child named in this summons out of Hong Kong, without the leave of the Court.”

2.       Practitioners are reminded that, where there are grounds for believing that an unauthorised removal of a ward from the jurisdiction is likely to occur, the Immigration Department will be prepared, on request, to try to prevent such a removal by alerting staff at the airport and on marine duty. Solicitors who wish to take advantage of this facility should produce to the Immigration Department:

(a)     where there is an order making the child a ward of court, a copy of that order, or

(b)　 in cases of urgency after the commencement of the proceedings but before any order for wardship is made, a notice (in the form of a letter addressed to the Immigration Department) signed by a registrar or deputy registrar of the court in which the proceedings have been instituted.

3.       Application under para.2(b) above for the issue of a letter may be made ex parte to the registrar or deputy registrar. In any event, a copy of any order should be produced to the Immigration Department as soon as possible after it is made.

4.     Where an infant, having become a ward of court by virtue of s.26 of the Supreme Court Ordinance, ceases to be a ward of court by the operation of r.2 of O.90 of the Rules of the Supreme Court, practitioners must advise the Immigration Department forthwith in cases where the Department has already been advised of the application.