Deputy Secretary for Justice Cheung Kwok-kwan speaks at the 35th Anniversary Gala Dinner of School of Law of City University of Hong Kong on Sept 24, 2022. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)
HONG KONG – Highlighting Hong Kong’s status as an international legal services hub, Deputy Secretary for Justice Cheung Kwok-kwan said on Saturday that there are immense opportunities lying ahead for the city’s legal and dispute resolution profession.
In a speech at the 35th Anniversary Gala Dinner of School of Law of City University of Hong Kong, Cheung said the National 14th Five-Year Plan and the Outline Development Plan for the Greater Bay Area explicitly support Hong Kong's development into a center for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region.
Cheung said the National 14th Five-Year Plan and the Outline Development Plan for the Greater Bay Area explicitly support Hong Kong's development into a center for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region
“As remarked by President Xi, ‘Hong Kong's close connection with the world market and strong support from the motherland are its distinctive advantages’,” Cheung said.
“Coupled with other national development initiatives like the Belt and Road, there are immense opportunities for the legal and dispute resolution profession in Hong Kong.”
He urged the legal sector to grasp the opportunities proactively by enhancing cooperation and collaboration between the two legal systems in the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
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Cheung noted that the GBA Legal Professional Examination (GBA Exam), which has been successfully held in the last couple of years, facilitates the flow of legal talents within the GBA and enables qualified HKSAR legal practitioners to provide legal services in the GBA on specified civil and commercial legal matters.
To enhance and facilitate the provision of legal services within the GBA by HKSAR legal practitioners, the Department of Justice DoJ and the Supreme People's Court had also collaborated to provide practical training for those who have passed the GBA Exam, he said.
Cheung said the DoJ has also stepped up its efforts to foster closer legal, mutual legal assistance in civil and commercial matters with the mainland.
He noted that nine arrangements with mainland authorities on matters relating to mutual legal assistance has been concluded.
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“These arrangements are working well and play an important role, especially the arrangement on mutual enforcement of arbitral awards,” Cheung said.
“Not only does it enhance exchanges between the arbitration and legal sectors of the two jurisdictions, the arrangement also helps Hong Kong enhance its status as an international legal and dispute resolution center in the Asia-Pacific region,” he added.
Cheung said that, with the signing of the Arrangement on Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings between mainland and the HKSAR in 2019, the territory becomes the first jurisdiction outside the mainland where, as a seat of arbitration, parties to arbitral proceedings administered by the six eligible arbitral institutions would be able to apply directly to the mainland courts for interim measures.
”For mediation, the three legal departments in the GBA Joint Conference–Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao–have agreed on common accreditation standards and code of conduct best practice of the GBA mediators. They are also actively exploring other collaborations in different aspects such as arbitration, capacity building, professional exchanges,” he said.
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