Hong Kong Court of First Instance

The Court of First Instance (HKCFI in case citations; HC in action numbers) is the lower court of the High Court of Hong Kong (the upper court being the Court of Appeal).

The hierarchy of the Hong Kong judiciary from high to low is: the Court of Final Appeal, the High Court (consisting of the upper Court of Appeal and the lower Court of First Instance), the District Court, and magistrates' courts.

The Court of First Instance is the highest court in Hong Kong that can hear cases at first instance with unlimited jurisdiction in both civil and criminal matters. It hears predominantly civil cases with claim values exceeding HKD 3 million, and criminal cases involving the most serious crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape, serious drugs offences and major commercial fraud. It is the only court in Hong Kong where trials are held with the involvement of a jury. It is also an appellate court hearing appeals against decisions made by Masters as well as certain lower courts and tribunals. Formerly the High Court of Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong under the British rule, it was renamed the Court of First Instance by the Hong Kong Basic Law after the handover of Hong Kong.

The Court of First Instance is bound by the ratio of previous decisions (precedents) of higher courts, including the Court of Final Appeal and Court of Appeal, as well as all Hong Kong cases previously decided by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, that have not been overruled. The Court of First Instance is not bound its own previous decisions.

As a part of the High Court, the Court of First Instance is based in the High Court building in Admiralty. However, it has occasionally sat elsewhere to hear cases, most notably in the 47 democrats' case, in which the court sat in the West Kowloon Law Courts Building in Sham Shui Po in order to accommodate the large number of defendants.