Gagging Orders

Gagging orders are court orders restraining persons from revealing or disclosing information about proceedings. Hong Kong courts may grant gagging orders where there are grounds to believe that once a wrongdoer is aware he is being pursued through the courts, he may take steps to frustrate the pursuit.

In this article, we provide an introduction to gagging orders and illustrate how they can be deployed in conjunction with Norwich Pharmacal applications to covertly gather information as part of an asset recovery operation. This article is part of a series of articles on asset recovery. Other articles of interest may include our article on freezing orders and Mareva injunctions.

Consistent with the maxim "justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done", Hong Kong courts prefer that their work take place in public and open to public scrutiny. As a result, as a general principle, publicity of litigation leading to