Rules for Determining Domicile
(HKLRC Consultation Paper)
The Law Reform Commission's Domicile sub-committee on 4 March 2004 released a consultation paper on proposals to reform the law determining a person's domicile. The paper explains that a person's domicile connects him with a system of law for the purposes of determining a range of matters, principally related to his status or property, including legal capacity to marry, recognition of overseas divorces or legal separations, personal capacity to make a will and formal validity of a will.
The concept of domicile is of significance in the Hong Kong legal system and plays a significant role in private international law. Despite the importance of the concept of domicile, the rules for determining a person's domicile have repeatedly been criticised for being unnecessarily complicated and technical, and sometimes leading to absurd results.
The Domicile sub-committee, chaired by Miss Audrey Eu, SC, hopes that the recommendations put forward in the Consultation Paper will improve this complex and confusing area of common law by simplifying the concept of domicile and making it easier to ascertain a person's domicile. The sub-committee would welcome comments on its proposals, and these can be sent to the Commission by email or by post. The consultation period will last until 31 May 2004.
| Press Release (PDF) (MS Word) |
| Executive Summary (PDF) (MS Word) |
| Consultation Paper (PDF) (MS Word) |