In this case, Rangoon 5 was performing live in Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. A massive fire occurred during their performance, causing death of Ronny and John from the band. It is revealed that the fire was due to the negligent maintenance of the stage lighting system. The first issue is whether Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre owed a duty of care to Rangoon 5 and audience assuming there were no sub-contractors hired by HKCEC to manage the operation of the venue. If a duty of care of HKCEC exists, the second issue is to consider which parties can claim damages from HKCEC.
To establish duty of care, the neighbour principle needs to be applied. According to Lord Atkin in Donoghue v Stevenson, the rule that you are to love your neighbor becomes in law, you must not injure your neighbor and you must take reasonable care to avoid acts of omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbor.
HKCEC night flags
Harbour Road Entrance to the Hong Kong Convention ...
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC)The neighbor is the persons who are closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected that I am directly my mind to the acts. In this case, the neighbor of HKCEC would be the band members and the audience who came to the centre to watch the performance. Based on the reasonable man standard, HKCEC owed a duty of care to check carefully all the necessary equipments and systems prior to the show to avoid any acts that could injure its neighbor and ensure the safety of their neighbors which mean the band members and the audience. [1: DK Srivastava, The Law of Tort in Hong Kong 2nd Edition, Lexis Nexis P.160][2: [1932] AC 562][3: DK Srivastava, The Law of...