CROWN LANDS RESUMPTION ORDINANCE

CROWN LANDS RESUMPTION ORDINANCE

CHAPTER 124.

CROWN LANDS RESUMPTION.

To facilitate the resumption of lands required for

public purposes

[14th November, 1900.]

1. T1iis Ordinance may be cited as the Crown Lands

Resumption Ordinance.

2. In this Ordinance-

Board ' means any board of arbitrators appointed froni

time to time under this Ordinance;

land ' mean.s Crown land of whatever description

(whether held under Crown lease or other title recognized
by the Crown), or any part or section thereof, in Hong Kong
and the New Territories, and includes buildings erected
thereon ;

it 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;

resumption for a public purpose ' includes

(a)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

(b)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

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

(d)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. Whenever the Governor in Council decides that resumption of
any land is required for a public purpose, the Governor may arrange for
the purchase thereof by negotiation with the owner or may order the
resumption thereof under this Ordinance.

4. (1) Where resumption is ordered a notice that the land is
required for a public purpose and will be resumed and calling on the
owner to nominate a member to serve on a Board to determine the
amount of compensation to be paid shall be published in the Gazette
in English and Chinese.

(2) A copy of such notice shall be ser-ved on the owner, if he can
be found, and a further notice shall be affixed upon a conspicuous part
of the land to be resumed or, where the land is divided into lots,
sections or sub-sections, if practicable, upon each lot, section or sub-
section affected.

(3) The notice affixed to the land shall state the date on which it
has been so affixed. It shall also state that the land will be resumed on
the expiration of one month from such date, unless the Governor shall
have authorized the giving of a longer period of notice, in which case
the longer period shall be stated.

(4) A notice published and served or affixed under this section
shall be deerned to be notice to the owner of the land and every person
interested in the land or having any right or easement therein.

5. On the expiration of one month, or the longer
period as aforesaid, the land shall revert to the Crown an ' and
all the rights of the owner, his assigns or representatives
and of any other person in or over the land or any part
thereof shall absolutely cease.

6. (1) After the reversion to the Crown as aforesaid a Board of
three members shall be appointed to deterniine the amount of
compensation to be paid in respect of such resumption.

(2) The chairman of the Board shall be a magistrate or justice of the
peace nominated by the Governor (unless a request in writing that the
chairman shall be a judge be





addressed by or on behalf of any party to the Registrar of the Supreme
Court and filed with him; in which case he shall be such judge as the
Chief justice shall in each case nominate) and the two other members
shall consist of one member nominated by the Governor and the other
by the former owner of the land resumed or other person claiming
compensation, or if he has failed before or within one week after the
date of expiration of the notice of intended resumption to nominate in
writing a member, then it shall be lawful for the chairman to nominate
some other person on behalf of such owner or claimant.

(3) The members nominated by the Governor and such owner or
claimant or either of them may be, but the person nominated by the
chairman on behalf of such owner or claimant shall not be, a member of
the Colonial Civil Service.

(4) The constitution of the 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.

(S) The Governor may appoint some person to act as clerk to the
Board, and determine his remuneration.

(6) 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 at the conclusion of the arbitration: Provided that nothing
herein shall authorize the payment of remuneration to a public servant
who is not permitted to receive remuneration as a member of the Board.

7. In 'any case where notice of intended resumption 1 lias been given
it shall be lawful for the Governor and all other persons authorized 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
any resumption of any land as aforesaid, but any person claiming
compensation, whether as owner or otherwise, by reason of such
resumption shall, before the commencement of the sitting of the Board,
transmit to the clerk of the Board, if appointed, oi., ,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
adjudicated upon, unless the parties otherwise agree.

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

(a)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 resumed by reason of the severance of
such land from other land of such owner contiguous thereto,
and also in respect of damage to business due to removal,
and to award compensation in respect of such resumption or
extinction or damage to all persons to whom the Board may
find compensation to be due;

(b)to award costs (including remuneration to the members 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, or any
persons whom the Board may find entitled to compensation,
such costs, if desired by the Crown or any party, to be taxed
by the Registrar of the Supreme Court;

(c)all such powers as are vested in the Supreme Court on the
occasion of any action or suit in respect of the following
matters





(i) enforcing the attendance of witnesses and
examining them upon oath or otherwise as it may think fit ;

(ii) compelling the production of any documents

(iii) punishing persons guilty of contempt;

(iv) ordering an inspection of any premises and

(v) entering upon and viewing any premises.

11. (1) When any property is resumed, a Board in determining 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 condition 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 of the property made after the date of the
publication in the Gazette of the notice of intended
resumption (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.

(2) A Board may also receive evidence to prove-

(a)that the rental of the buildings or premises was enhanced by
reason of the same being used as a brothel, or as a gaming
house, or for any illegal purpose; or

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

(c)that the buildings or premises are unfit, and not reasonably
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 on 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
abating the nuisance or putting them into such repair,
as the case may be; and

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

12. In the determination of the compensation to be paid
under this Ordinance

(a)no allowance shall be made on account of the
resumption being compulsory;

(b)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;

(c)no compensation shall be given in respect of any
expectancy or probability of the grant or renewal or
continuance, by the Crown or by any 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

(d)subject to the provisions of section II and to the
provisions of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, the
value of the land resumed shall be taken to be the
amount which the land if sold in the open market might
be expected to realize.

13. (1) Every notice under the hand of the chairman of a
Board may be substituted 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 tinder the hand of the
chairman, and may authorize the imprisonment (which shall be without
hard labour) of the offender for any term not exceeding three months.

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

14. (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 same force and
effect as 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.

15. 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.

16. Any land resumed under the provisions of this
Ordinance may be demised and granted by the Governor
on such terms and conditions aiid at such price, whether
by way of rent, premium or otherwise, and either by
public auction or private contract, as the Governor may
determine.

17. (1) All sums of money awarded as compensation (together with
interest thereon as hereinafter mentioned), and all costs and
remuneration awarded against the Crown, shall be paid out of the
general revenue.





(2) It shall be lawful for the Director of Public Works, after
the making of any award under this Ordinance, to cause to be
inserted in the Gazette a notification that an award has been
made, and such notification shall appoint a Government officer to
pay the compensation awarded, and a place at which aiid a time
within which, such compensation shall be paid.

(3) Any sum of money awarded as compensation shall bear
interest at the rate of four per cent per annum from the date of
the resumption of the land until the expiration of the time
appointed as aforesaid. Except as hereinbefore mentioned, no
interest shall be payable on any sum awarded as compensation.
No interest shall be payable on any costs or remuneration.

(4) If no claim be made for the compensation money at the
place, and within the time appointed, the officer appointed as
aforesaid shall cause such money to be paid into the Treasury.

(5) The money thus paid into the Treasury or any part of it
may, within a period of five years from the expiration of the time
referred to in subsection (2), be claimed by the person entitled
thereto and upon such claim being substantiated shall be paid to
the person so entitled.

(6) At the expiration of the said period of five years
the money or such part of it as remains unpaid shall be
transferred to the general revenue of the Colony aiid shall
be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the
Unclaimed Balances Ordinance.

18. When the owner of any land which has been resumed is
absent from the Colony or cannot be found, or within six months
from the date when the amount of compensation shall have been
determined makes no clairn to the same, or is in the opinion of
the Governor unable to ,give an effectual discharge for. the
same, the Governor inav direct payment of the compensation to
be made to such other person on behalf ol' the owner as he shall
think proper, subject to any conditions or not, and the receipt of
such person shall be a valid aiid effectual discharge for the same
in the same manner as if payment had been made
to the owner.





19. 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 conclusive evidence that
the resumption is for a public purpose.

20. Whenever the buildings or dwellings on any la land land
are of insanitary construction as regards conditions of light
and 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.

21. Any Board may make rules for the conduct of
proceedings before it.

22. This Ordinance shall not be deemed to prevent the
exercise by His Majesty of any power of resumption
contained in any Crown lease.
Originally 32 of 1900, Fraser 10 of 1900. 24 of 1950. 37 of 1950. Short title. Interpretation. Resumption of land for public purpose. Notices. Reversion of ownership to Crown. Compensation Board. 24 of 1950, Schedule. 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. [s. 11 cont.] 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. Filling vacancy on Board. Power to demise or grant land resumed. Payment of compensation and interest. [s. 17 cont.] 37 of 1950, Schedule. (Cap. 122.) Payment when owner absent, etc. 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 32 of 1900, Fraser 10 of 1900. 24 of 1950. 37 of 1950. Short title. Interpretation. Resumption of land for public purpose. Notices. Reversion of ownership to Crown. Compensation Board. 24 of 1950, Schedule. 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. [s. 11 cont.] 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. Filling vacancy on Board. Power to demise or grant land resumed. Payment of compensation and interest. [s. 17 cont.] 37 of 1950, Schedule. (Cap. 122.) Payment when owner absent, etc. 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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