在 Sian Participation v. Halimeda International [2024] UKPC 16一案中,布里格斯勋爵(Lord Briggs)和夏宝伦勋爵(Lord Hamblen)代表委员会作出判决,认可了关于清盘呈请的传统做法。两位法官确认,即使产生债务的合同包含仲裁条款,亦不能削弱债务人证明债务确实存在实质性争议的责任(下称“可审理问题标准”)。
该案中,委员会的观点与香港高等法院暂委法官王鸣峰资深大律师(William Wong SC)在 Dayang v. Asia Master Logistics [2020] 2 HKLRD 423 一案中的观点(见判词第82、98段)如出一辙,可归纳如下:
In Sian Participation v. Halimeda International [2024] UKPC 16, Lords Briggs and Hamblen, delivering judgment on behalf of the Board, endorsed the traditional approach to winding-up petitions. Their Lordships confirmed that a debtor’s duty to show that the debt is genuinely disputed on substantial grounds (“Triable Issue Standard”) remains undiluted even if the contract from which the debt arose contains an arbitration clause.
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