CROWN LANDS RESUMPTION ORDINANCE, 1900

CROWN LANDS RESUMPTION ORDINANCE, 1900

No. 10 of 1900.

An Ordinance to facilitate the resumption of Crown lands
required for public purposes.

[14th November, 1900.]

[Preamble, rep. Law Revision Ordinance, 1924.]
1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Crown Lands
Resumption Ordinance, 1900.

2. In this Ordinance,
(a) Board means any Board of Arbitrators appointed
from time to time under this Ordinance.

* As amended by Law Rev. Ord, 1924.
+ As amended by No. 7 of 1918 and Law Rev. Ord, 1924.





(b) Land means Crown land of whatever description
(whether held under Crown lease or other title recognised
by the Crown), or any part or section thereof, in Hongkong
nd the New Territories, and includes buildings erected
thereon.

(c) Owner means the person registered or entitled to
be registered in the Land Office in respect of any land sought
to be resumed, or, if such person is absent from the Colony,
or cannot be found, or is bankrupt or dead, his agent or
representative in the Colony.

(d) Restimption for a public purpose includes-
(i) resumption of insanitary property for the purpose of
securing the erection of improved dwellings or buildings
thereon or the sanitary improvement of such property; and

(ii) resumption of any land upon which any building is
erected which, by reason of its proximity to or contact with
any other buildings, seriously interferes with ventilation or
otherwise makes or conduces to make such other buildings
to be in a condition unfit for human habitation or dangerous
or injurious to health; and

(iii) resumption for any purpose connected with the naval
or military forces of the Crown, including the volunteer force
in this Colony; and

(iv) resumption for any purpose of whatsoever description
whether ejusdem generis with any of the above purposes or
not, which the Governor in Council may decide to be a public
purpose.

3.-(1) Whenever the Governor in Council decides that
the resumption of any land is required for a public purpose,
it shall be lawful for the Governor to enter into private
negotiations with the owner of such land, or any other person
having any proprietary interest therein, for the purchase of
such land and all the right, title, and interest therein,
and, in the case of the failure (in the opinion of the
Governor) of such negotiations, or in case it is not known
who the owner is, or in case the owner is absent from the
Colony or cannot be found, to give notice that, such land will
be resumed on the expiration of four months from the
publication thereof and that such compensation will be paid
as may be awarded in the manner hereinafter provided.

* As amended by No. 14 of 1921 and Law Rev. Ord., 1924.





(2) Such notice shall be punished in the Gazette in English
and Chinese, and copies theeof shall be affixed upon a
conspicuous part of the land to be resumed, and such
publication shall be deemed to be suffielent notice to the
owner and to every person interested in the land or having
any right or easement therein.

(3) On the expiration of four months as aforesaid, the land
shall revert to the Crown and all rights of the owner, his
assigns or representatives or of any other person in or over
the land or any part thereof shall absolutely cease-

(4) If any owner or co-owner of land which is to be resumed
is absent from the Colony or cannot be found, proceedings
under this Ordinance may be taken in all respects as if such
penson were non-existent.

4. After the expiration of four months as aforesald, a
Board shall be appointed to determine the amount of
compensation to be paid in respect of such resumption, which
shall in each case consist of three members and be constituted
in manner following:-

(1) the chairman of the Board shall be such judge as the
judges may mutually arrange;

(2) the two other members of the Board shall of
one member to be nominated by the Governor and the other
by the owner of the land resumed: Provided always that the
member nominated by the Governor may be the Director of
Public Works or any public officer; and

(3) notice in writing of the nomination by the Governor
of a member of the Board shall be forthwith given to the
owner by publication in the Gazette and, if he does not
noininate a member of the Board within steven days from the
date of such publication, it shall be lawful of the chairman
to nominate and appoint any person, other than a member of
the Colonial Civil Service, on behalf of such owner.

5. Whenever the Governor in Council decides that the
resumption of any land is required for a public purpose and
in the opinion of the Governor the value of such land does
not exceed the sum of five hundred dollars for any one lot or

* As amended by Law Rev. Ord., 1924.


portion of a lot registered in the Land Office the Governor
may authorise the resumption to be carried out in the
manner following instead of in the manner prescribed by
sections 3 and 4 :-

(1) Notice shall be given by the Colonial Secretary to the
owner of the land intended to be resumed that such land is
required for a public purpose and will be resumed on the
expiration of one month from the date of such notice, and
that thereupon such compensation will be paid as may be
awarded in the manner hereinafter provided. Such notice
shall also require the owner to nominate a member to serve
on the Board to be constituted as herein provided, and if the
owner cannot be found it shall be affixed upon a conspicuous
part of the land to be resumed and thereupon shall be
deemed to be notice to the owner of the land and over
person interested in the land or having any right or ease-
ment therein.

(2) On the expiration of one month as aforesaid the land
shall revert to the Crown, and all rights of the owner or any
other person in or over the land or any part thereof shall
absolutely cease.

(3) After the expiration of one month as aforesaid a Board
shall be appointed to determine the amount of compensation
to be paid in respect of such resumption. The Board shall
consist of three members resident in the Colony and shall be
constitided as follows -
The chairman of the Board shall be a magistrate or a
justice of the peace nominated by the Governor, and the
two oother members shall consist of one member nominated
by the Governor and the other by the owner of the land
intended to be resumed, or if he fails within one week
from the date of expiration of the said notice of intended
resumption to nominate in writing a member then it shall
be lawful for the chairman to nominate any other person, on
behalf of such owner.

6.-(1) The constitution of any Board shall be notified in
the Gazette, and within fourteen days from such notification
it shall commence its sittings at such time and place as the
chairman may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

(2) The Governor may appoint some person to act as clerk
to a Board, and the Governor in Council shall determine his
remuneration.


(3) The remuneration of any member of a Board shall
be at a rate according to the amount of work, the time
occupied, and the magnitude of the interests involved, and
shall be determined in each case by the chairman ;it the
conclusion of the arbitration: Provided that nothing herein
shall authorise the payment of remuneration to a public
servant who is not permitted to receive remuneration as a
member of a Board.

7. In any case where notice of intended resumption has
been given it shall be lawful for the Governor and all other
persons authorised by him and without the consent of the
owner or occupier thereof to enter into and upon any land
intended to be, resumed for the purpose of surveying and
taking levels of such land and doing all necessary acts for
setting out the line of works; the compensation for any
damage thereby occasioned to the owner or occupier thereof,
shall be decided by the Board.

8. No action or suit shall lie either against, the Crown or
against any other person for any loss or damage resulting
to any person from an resumption of any land as aforesald,
but any person claiming compensation, whether as owner or
otherwise,, by reason of such resumption shall, before the
commencement of the sittings of the Board, transmit to the
clerk of the Board, if appointed or, if no clerk is appointed,
to the Colonial Secretary for transmission to the Board, a
written claim, stating the nature of his right or interest In the
land and the amount which he seeks to recover.

9. Every claim shall be separately considered and adjudi-
cated upon, unless the parties otherwise agree.

10. Any Board when constituted shall have the following
powers and authorities:-

(1) to determine the compensation to be paid in respect of
such resumption or in respect of the extinction of any right
or easement caused by such resumption, regard being had
not only to the value of the land taken and any buildings
thereon but also to any damage or injury resulting to the
owner of the land resuined by reason of the severance of such
land from other land of such owner contiguous thereto, and

* As amended by No. 14 of 1921.


also in respect of damage to business due to removal, and to
award compensation in respect of such resumption or extinc-
tion or darnage to all persons claiming compensation to whon
the Board may find compensation to be due;

(2) to award costs (including remuneration to the mem-
bers of the Board and to the clerk to the Board determined
under section 6) in its discretion, either for or against the
Crown or for or against any parties claiming compensation,
such costs, if desired by the Crown or any party, to be taxed
by the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

(3) all such powers as are vested in the Supreme Court or
in a judge on the occasion of any action or suit in respect of
the following matters:-
(a) enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining
them upon oath or otherwise as it may think fit;
(b) compelling the production of any documents;
(c) punishing persons guilty of contempt;
(d) ordering an inspection of any premises; and
(e) entering upon and viewing any premises.

11.-(1) When any property is resumed, a Board in deter-
mining the compensation to be paid and in estimating the
value of the land resumed and of any buildings thereon,
may-

(a) take into consideration the nature and existing condi-
tion of the property, and the probable duration of the
buildings in their existing state, and the state of repair
thereof; and

(b) decline to make any compensation for any addition to
or improvement the property made after the date of the
publication in the Gazette of the notice of intended resump-
tion, or after the notice by the Colonial Secretary under section
5, as the case may be, (unless such addition or improvement
was necessary for the maintenance of the property in a proper
state of repair):

Provided that, in the case of any interest acquired after
the date of such publication, no separate estimate of the
value thereof shall be made so as to increase the amount of
compensation.

* As amended by No. 14 of 1921.





(2) A Board may also receive evidence to prove
(a) that the rental of the building or premises was
enhanced by reason of the same being used as a brothol, or
as a gaming house, or for any illegal purpose; or

(b) that the building or premises are in such a condition
as to be a nuisance within the meaning of any Building
Ordinance, or any Ordinance relating to the public health,
or is or are not in reasonably good repair; or

(c) that the building or premises are unfit, and not reason-
ably capable of being made fit, for human habitation.

(3) If the Board is satisfied by such evidence, then the
compensation-

(a) shall, in the first case, so far as it is based on rental, be
based oil the rental which would have been obtainable if the
building or premises had not been occupied as a brothel, or
as a gaming house, or for an illegal purpose; and

(b) shall, in the second case, be the amount estimated as
the value of the building or premises if the nuisance had
been abated or if they had been put into reasonably good
repair, after deducting the estimated expense of the
nuisance or putting them into such repair, as the case may
be; and

(c) shall, in the third case, be the value of the land and of
the materials of the buildings thereon.

11A. In the determination of the compensation to be paid
under this Ordinance,-

(1) No allowance shall be made on account, of the resump-
tion being compulsory;

(2) No compensation shall be given in respect of any use
of the land which is not in accordance with the terms of the
Crown lease under which the land is held;

(3) No compensation shall be given in respect of any
expectancy or probability of the or renewal or con-
tinuance, by the Crown or by my person, of any licence,
permission, lease or permit whatsoever: Provided that this
paragraph shall not apply to any case in which the grant or
renewal or continuance of any licence, permission, lease or
permit could have been enforced as of right if the land in
question had not been resumed; and

* As amended by No. 14 of 1921, No. 9 of 1922 and Law Rev. Ord., 1924.



(4) Subject to the provisions of section 11 and to the
provisions of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, the value
of the land resurned shall be taken to be the amount which
the land if sold in the open market might be expected to
realize.

12.-(1) Every notice mider the hand of the chairman of
a Board may be substitued for and shall be equivalent to
any form of process capable of being issued in any action or
suit for enforcing the attendance of witnesses or compelling
the production of documents.

(2) Any warrant of committal to prison issued for the
purpose of enforcing any such powers as aforesaid shall be
under the hand of the chairman, and may authorise the
imprisonemnt (which shall be without hard labor) of the
offender for any term not exceeding three months.

(3) Every notice, order, or warrant of any Board may be
served and execiited in the same manner is notices, orders,
and warrants of the Suprene Court may be served and
executed in civil actions.

13.-(1) If, in the discharge of the duties devolving upon
any Board, there occurs a difference of opinion between the
members, the decision of any two of them shall have the
force and effect ,is if all the members had concurred
therein.

(2) Any decision arrived at by the Board shall be final as
regards all parties interested.

(3) No award of compensation made by a Board with
respect to the resumption of any land shall be liable to be
set aside for irregularity or error in matter of form.

14. During the pendency of any proceedings before any
Board, if any member of the Board from any cause is or
becomes unable to act, his place, if he is a judge, shall be
filled by another judge or, if he is a person appointed by the
Governor, owner, or chairman, by some other person
appointed by the Governor, owner, or chairman, as the case
may require.

15. Any land resumed under the provisions of this Ordi-
nance may be demised and granted by the Governor on such
terms conditions and at such price, whether by way of
rent, prermium, or otherwise, and either by public auction or
private contract, as the Governor may determine.

* As amended by Law Rev. Ord, 1924.


16. All sums of money awarded and all costs against the
Crown, if any, shall, as soon as practicable after the award
is published, be paid out of the public revenues, and all
sums awarded, exclusive of costs, shall bear interest at the
rate of eight dollars per cent. per annurn from the date of
the resumption of the land until payment.

17. When the owner of any land which has been resumed
is absent from the Colony or cannot be found, or within six
mouths from the date when the amount of compensation
shall have been determined makes no claim to the same, or
is in the opinion of the Governor unable to give an eftectual
discharge for the same, the Governor may direct payment of
the compensation to be made to such other person on behalf
of the owner as he shall think proper, subject to any con-
ditions or not, and the receipt of such person be a
valid and effectual discharge for the same in the same
manner as if payment had been made to the owner.

18. In any notice to resume any land, it shall be sufficient
to state that the resumption of such land is required for a
public purpose, without stating the particular purpose for
which the land is required; and a notice containing such
statement shall be concluseive evidence that the resumption
is for a pablie purpose.

19. Whenever the buildlings or dwellings on any land are
of insanitary construction is regards conditions of light aud
air, the Governor may, notwithstanding any of the powers
of resumption herein contained or prior to the exercise of
any such powers, permit the owner of such buildings or
dwellings to reconstruct or rebuild the same or any part
thereof, on such terms and conditions and subject to such
security being given for the proper carrying out of such
reconstruction or rebuilding as the Governor may think fit.

20. Any Board may make rules for the couduct of pro-
ceedings before it.

21. This Ordinance shall not be deemed to prevent the
exercise by His Majesty of any power of resumption contained
in any Crown lease.

* As amended by Law Rev. Ord., 1924.
[Originally No. 32 of 1900. No. 14 of 1921. No. 9 of 1922. Law Rev. Ord., 1924.] Short title. Interpretation. Power of resumption of land for public purpose. Constitution of Board for determination of compensation for land resumed. Resumption of land under value of $500. Notification of constitution of Board, etc. Power of entry. Barring of action relating to land resumed, and transmission of claims to Board. Consideration of claims. Powers and authorities of Board. Principles of assessment of compensation. [cf. No. 1 of 1903.] Additional rules for determining compensation. 9 & 10 Geo. 5, c. 57, s. 2 (1)(2). Execution of process of Board. Decision of Board to be by majority, and final. Filing of vacancy on Board. Power to demise or grant land resumed. Compensation to bear interest. Payment of compensation in case of absent owner. Effect as evidence of notice of resumption. Arrangement with owner of buildings or dwellings to reconstruct them. Board to regulate proceedings. Saving of power of resumption under Crown lease.

[Originally No. 32 of 1900. No. 14 of 1921. No. 9 of 1922. Law Rev. Ord., 1924.] Short title. Interpretation. Power of resumption of land for public purpose. Constitution of Board for determination of compensation for land resumed. Resumption of land under value of $500. Notification of constitution of Board, etc. Power of entry. Barring of action relating to land resumed, and transmission of claims to Board. Consideration of claims. Powers and authorities of Board. Principles of assessment of compensation. [cf. No. 1 of 1903.] Additional rules for determining compensation. 9 & 10 Geo. 5, c. 57, s. 2 (1)(2). Execution of process of Board. Decision of Board to be by majority, and final. Filing of vacancy on Board. Power to demise or grant land resumed. Compensation to bear interest. Payment of compensation in case of absent owner. Effect as evidence of notice of resumption. Arrangement with owner of buildings or dwellings to reconstruct them. Board to regulate proceedings. Saving of power of resumption under Crown lease.

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