Applications under the Ordinance

• Applications may be made in relation to one or more specified orders in Mainland judgments given in matrimonial or family cases if the judgments are given on or after 15 February 2022 and are effective in the Mainland.
• Specified orders are categorised into 3 types:
  • status-related orders (such as orders granting divorce, etc.)
  • care-related orders (such as orders in relation to custody, right of access, etc.)
  • maintenance-related orders (such as orders in relation to maintenance of a person under the age of 18 years, spousal maintenance, division of property between parties to a marriage, etc.)
• The application shall be made to the District Court (Family Court), supported by an affidavit (exhibiting documents such as a sealed copy of the Mainland judgment, a certificate issued by the Mainland court which gave the relevant judgment, etc.).
• Registration applications in relation to care-related orders and maintenance-related orders must, generally, be made within a time limit of two years.

• The court may make a registration order for the specified order to be registered.
• If a maintenance-related order requires periodic payments or performance of acts, the registration may also cover payments or acts which are due on or after the application date and which have not yet been made or performed.
• The applicant must serve a notice of registration on all other parties to the Mainland judgment.

• Applications for setting aside registration must be made within the time limit as specified by the court and set out in the notice of registration.
• Examples of the grounds for setting aside include:
  • a requirement for registration application, such as the judgment is effective in the Mainland, has not been complied with
  • the respondent to the Mainland judgment was not summoned to appear according to the law of the Mainland

• After the period within which a setting aside application may be made has expired or after any setting aside application, if made, has been finally disposed of:
  • Actions may be taken to enforce a registered care-related order or maintenance-related order in Hong Kong
  • A registered status-related order is recognized as valid in Hong Kong

• Applications may be made in relation to Mainland divorce certificates issued by the civil affairs departments in the Mainland if the certificates are issued on or after 15 February 2022.
• The application shall be made to the District Court (Family Court), supported by an affidavit (exhibiting documents such as a notarized copy of the Mainland divorce certificate, etc.).

• If the District Court (Family Court) is satisfied that the Mainland divorce certificate is valid in the Mainland, it may make a recognition order for the Mainland divorce certificate to be recognized.
• The applicant must serve a notice of the recognition order on the other party to the divorce specified in the Mainland divorce certificate.

• Applications for setting aside recognition orders must be made within the time limit as specified by the court and set out in the notice of the recognition order.
• Examples of the grounds for setting aside include:
  • the Mainland divorce certificate is invalid
  • the Mainland divorce certificate was obtained by fraud

• After the period within which a setting aside application may be made has expired or after any setting aside application, if made, has been finally disposed of, the divorce specified in the Mainland divorce certificate is recognized as valid in Hong Kong.

• Applications may be made in relation to Hong Kong judgments given in matrimonial or family cases if the judgments are given on or after 15 February 2022 and are effective in Hong Kong.
• The Hong Kong judgment must contain one or more orders set out in Schedule 3 to the Ordinance. Examples include:
  • a decree absolute of divorce
  • a maintenance order
  • an order in relation to custody (including an order relating to access to a child, or an order for the return or delivery of a child who has been wrongfully removed from Hong Kong to the Mainland or wrongfully retained in the Mainland (other than in the context of an international child abduction case))
• Applications shall be made to the Registrar of the Court of Final Appeal, the High Court or the District Court, as the case may be, which gave the Hong Kong judgment.

The Registrar of the relevant Hong Kong court issues certified copy of and certificate for the Hong Kong judgment.

Applications may be made to the Mainland courts for recognition and enforcement of the Hong Kong judgment in the Mainland in accordance with the law of the Mainland.