Hong Kong · civil procedure
What period applies to general court of appeal notice?
28 days from the decision. Serve the notice of appeal under Order 59 rule 3(5). Service and setting down are separate appeal steps.
- Period
- 28 days from the decision
- Trigger
- Date of the judgment, order or decision
- Rule
- Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A), Order 59, rule 4(1)(c)
Official verified English consolidated chapter 4A, version October 1,2025. Acquired October 9, 2026, with the official current register and immutable verified PDF. Current verified official English consolidated chapter PDFs acquired October 9, 2026. Version dates retained per chapter register. No claim that a calendar proves future gale, black-rainstorm or emergency office closures.
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What period applies to general court of appeal notice?
28 days from the decision. Serve the notice of appeal under Order 59 rule 3(5). Service and setting down are separate appeal steps.
Responsible actor. Appellant in the ordinary non-leave branch.
Date of the judgment, order or decision
28 days from the decision
Appellant in the ordinary non-leave branch. Ordinary paragraph 4(1)(c) appeal; No required-leave branch; No qualifying direct-CFA application exclusion interval. Leave-required appeals usually use seven days after leave. Winding-up and bankruptcy use their own twenty-eight-day decision branch.
Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A), Order 59, rule 4(1)(c)How does this provision count time?
- Serve the notice of appeal under Order 59 rule 3(5)
- Appellant in the ordinary non-leave branch uses the established date of the judgment, order or decision. 28 days from the decision. Exclude the effective event day. Ordinary intervening weekends remain counted unless an applicable source provision excludes them. High Court Ordinance (Cap. 4), section 31(1), omits Summer Vacation for the applicable civil procedural period not exceeding one month unless the Court directs otherwise. Order 64 rule 1 supplies August 1 through August 31. Order 3 rule 3 separately covers pleading periods.
- Serve the notice of appeal under Order 59 rule 3(5). An office calendar does not automatically change this service, deemed-event, minimum-interval or status boundary. The source and the actual completion route control. Service and setting down are separate appeal steps.
- Service and setting down are separate appeal steps.
- A closed interparty or combined endpoint needs separate source qualification. An ordinary weekday calculation does not certify this boundary.
Appellant in the ordinary non-leave branch uses the established date of the judgment, order or decision. 28 days from the decision. Exclude the effective event day. Ordinary intervening weekends remain counted unless an applicable source provision excludes them. High Court Ordinance (Cap. 4), section 31(1), omits Summer Vacation for the applicable civil procedural period not exceeding one month unless the Court directs otherwise. Order 64 rule 1 supplies August 1 through August 31. Order 3 rule 3 separately covers pleading periods.
Serve the notice of appeal under Order 59 rule 3(5). An office calendar does not automatically change this service, deemed-event, minimum-interval or status boundary. The source and the actual completion route control. Service and setting down are separate appeal steps. This closed interparty or combined filing and service boundary is withheld pending separate qualification of section71 and the applicable Court procedure. The calculator refuses that boundary.
Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A), Order 59, rule 4(1)(c)What do independently checked examples show?
Fictitious example
Appellant in the ordinary non-leave branch. Date of the judgment, order or decision occurs on Friday, October 9, 2026. The retained eligibility and ordinary procedural conditions apply.
| Step | What is counted | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Example 1. Ordinary established facts | Appellant in the ordinary non-leave branch. Date of the judgment, order or decision occurs on Friday, October 9, 2026. The retained eligibility and ordinary procedural conditions apply. 28 days from the decision. Service and setting down are separate appeal steps. | Friday, November 6, 2026 |
| Example 2. Closed-day boundary | Appellant in the ordinary non-leave branch. Date of the judgment, order or decision occurs on Monday, September 21, 2026. The retained eligibility and ordinary procedural conditions apply. 28 days from the decision. Service and setting down are separate appeal steps. | A closed interparty completion requires separate Cap.1 section71 and applicable Rules qualification. No unverified service carry is inferred. |
| Example 3. Material procedural branch | Appellant in the ordinary non-leave branch. Date of the judgment, order or decision occurs on Friday, October 9, 2026. The complete eligibility and procedural facts are not established. This actual branch must be established independently before any ordinary endpoint can be used. Ordinary paragraph 4(1)(c) appeal | Leave-required appeals usually use seven days after leave. Winding-up and bankruptcy use their own twenty-eight-day decision branch. |
Fictitious established facts. These examples do not establish eligibility, effective service, relief or a direction.
Try these dates in the calculatorWhich conditions and exceptions apply?
- Ordinary paragraph 4(1)(c) appeal
- Ordinary paragraph 4(1)(c) appeal
- No required-leave branch
- No required-leave branch
- No qualifying direct-CFA application exclusion interval
- No qualifying direct-CFA application exclusion interval
- Correct source counting and completion route
- Appellant in the ordinary non-leave branch uses the established date of the judgment, order or decision. 28 days from the decision. Exclude the effective event day. Ordinary intervening weekends remain counted unless an applicable source provision excludes them. High Court Ordinance (Cap. 4), section 31(1), omits Summer Vacation for the applicable civil procedural period not exceeding one month unless the Court directs otherwise. Order 64 rule 1 supplies August 1 through August 31. Order 3 rule 3 separately covers pleading periods. Serve the notice of appeal under Order 59 rule 3(5). An office calendar does not automatically change this service, deemed-event, minimum-interval or status boundary. The source and the actual completion route control. Service and setting down are separate appeal steps.
- Appellant in the ordinary non-leave branch. Ordinary paragraph 4(1)(c) appeal; No required-leave branch; No qualifying direct-CFA application exclusion interval. Leave-required appeals usually use seven days after leave. Winding-up and bankruptcy use their own twenty-eight-day decision branch.
- Leave-required appeals usually use seven days after leave. Winding-up and bankruptcy use their own twenty-eight-day decision branch.
What must the responsible actor complete?
Questions about this procedure
What period applies to general court of appeal notice?
Does every civil appeal have twenty-eight days?
No. Order 59 rule 4(1)(a) has a seven-day post-leave branch.
Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A), Order 59, rule 4(1)(c)Does receipt of written reasons replace decision date?
The ordinary paragraph (c) identifies when the judgment, order or decision was given or made.
Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A), Order 59, rule 4(1)(c)What completes this notice step?
Serve the notice under rule 3(5). Setting down under rule 5 is a later separate requirement.
Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A), Order 59, rule 4(1)(c)Do direct-CFA applications affect the ordinary count?
Rule 4(2) disregards specified intervals for applications under Cap. 484 sections 27C or 27D.
Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A), Order 59, rule 4(1)(c)Can the appellant ignore other specific appeal rules?
No. Rule 4(1) expressly applies except as otherwise provided by the Rules.
Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A), Order 59, rule 4(1)(c)Does the computation prove an appeal lies as of right?
No. Establish the source branch and any statutory leave requirement before calculating.
Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A), Order 59, rule 4(1)(c)Official sources and review
Provisions used (6)
| Provision | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Rules of the High Court (Cap. 4A), Order 59, rule 4(1)(c) | Check the identified procedure, event, counting rule or qualification |
| Rules of the High Court (Cap.4A), Order3 rules1–5 and Order64 rule1 | Check the identified procedure, event, counting rule or qualification |
| High Court Ordinance (Cap.4), section31(1), including its endorsed-writ proviso | Check the identified procedure, event, counting rule or qualification |
| Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap.1), section71(1)–(2) | Check the identified procedure, event, counting rule or qualification |
| General Holidays Ordinance (Cap.149), section3 and Schedule | Check the identified procedure, event, counting rule or qualification |
| Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (Cap.484), sections24,25,27C and27D as applicable | Check the identified procedure, event, counting rule or qualification |