The Temple Chambers Moot 2025 was held on Saturday, 9 August 2025. This year’s moot problem centred on the “legitimate interest” test set out in 

White & Carter (Councils) Ltd v McGregor 

[1962] AC 413. Set in the context of a fictional dispute concerning a commercial rental agreement, teams addressed the question of whether liability in misrepresentation can arise if a statement of present intention as to future action is made negligently.

Teams from Hong Kong and UK universities presented arguments across three rounds. Judges praised the high standard of competition shown by all teams. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all participants for their contributions to this memorable event.

The winning team – Ryan Li Hok Yu (who was also awarded Best Speaker) and Alric Wong Tung Fai – edged out Maurice Yim Man Leung and Timothy Chow Hoi Yan in the Grand Final, appearing before a panel comprising the Hon Mr Justice Thomas Au, Justice of Appeal (a former member of Chambers), 

Special thanks go to Mr Justice Au JA for graciously presiding over the final and sharing invaluable insights on advocacy in court proceedings. We would also like to thank 

 for judging the preliminary rounds of the Moot.

We look forward to welcoming another group of talented law students for the 2026 edition!

The Court’s approach on duplicative litigation was recently considered in 

DP World Djibouti FZCO v China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited 

[2025] HKCFI 3861, which confirms that parties cannot bring multiple actions against the same defendant for the same cause of action.

The dispute arose from the Djibouti government’s termination of concession agreements on the operation of certain container ports in Djibouti. In 2018, the Plaintiff and others commenced an action (the 2018 Action) against the Defendant, a Hong Kong-listed port developer, for allegedly inducing the Djibouti government to breach its contracts.

The 2018 Action faced long procedural delays. In 2023, the Plaintiff commenced a new action (the 2023 Action) against the Defendant with the same factual allegations and seeking damages for inducing breach of contract, though this time based on several different contractual provisions.

The Court struck out the 2023 Action for abuse of process. Several aspects of the decision are noteworthy: 

, instructed by Deacons, acted for the Plaintiff.

, instructed by Reed Smith Richards Butler LLP, acted for the Defendant.

DP World Djibouti FZCO v China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited

 [2025] HKCFI 3861, which confirms that parties cannot bring multiple actions against the same defendant for the same cause of action.

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