Arbitral awards made in Hong Kong can be enforced in all State parties to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.
The Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609) (“the Ordinance”) came into effect in June 2011 with the following salient features:
The Ordinance has been amended over the years to ensure that Hong Kong’s arbitration law stays abreast of international developments and maintain Hong Kong’s competitiveness as a leading international arbitration centre. Recent major amendments are set out below:
To provide for a mechanism on reciprocal recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, the HKSAR has respectively entered into arrangements with the Mainland and the Macao SAR in 1999 and 2013, namely:
The Supplemental Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between the Mainland and the HKSAR was signed between the HKSAR Government and the Supreme People’s Court on 27 November 2020 and fully implemented on 19 May 2021 to further refine the Enforcement Arrangement in line with the practice of international arbitration.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the implementation of the Enforcement Arrangement, the Supreme People’s Court and the Department of Justice have jointly published a “Compendium of Notable Cases relating to the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between the Mainland and the HKSAR” in December 2020.
Under the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the HKSAR (“Interim Measures Arrangement”) signed on 2 April 2019, Hong Kong has become the first jurisdiction outside the Mainland where, as a seat of arbitration, parties to arbitral proceedings administered by designated arbitral institutions may apply to the Mainland courts for interim measures, including property preservation, evidence preservation and conduct preservation.
For more information, please see:
Over the last ten years, there has been an increasing number of reputable international legal and dispute resolution institutions setting up offices in Hong Kong, reinforcing our position as a leading international arbitration centre in the Asia Pacific region:
For other law-related organisations housed in the Hong Kong Legal Hub, please visit the Legal Hub’s website.
To further promote Hong Kong as a leading centre for international arbitration services in the Asia-Pacific region, the Secretary for Justice has set up an Advisory Committee on Promotion of Arbitration, comprising representatives from the DoJ and the legal, arbitration and relevant sectors in Hong Kong. Overseas arbitration experts may also be appointed from time to time to assist in the work of the Advisory Committee either generally or on specific issues.
The Advisory Body, appointed pursuant to section 98X(1) of Part 10A of the Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609), is responsible for monitoring and reviewing the operation of the provisions on third party funding of arbitration and mediation, and the Code of Practice for Third Party Funding of Arbitration.
The Advisory Body, appointed pursuant to section 98ZT(1) of Part 10B of the Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609), is responsible for monitoring and reviewing the operation of the provisions on outcome related fee structures for arbitration and exercising the power under section 98ZM of the Arbitration Ordinance.