New judgment enforcement arrangement between China and Hong Kong comes into operation

The Association on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Business Issues by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Particular Administrative Area, which permits for particular court docket rulings from mainland China to be enforced in Hong Kong, formally got here into operation on Monday.

Hong Kong applied the association by native laws. The Legislative Council of Hong Kong handed the related Ordinance, Mainland Judgments in Civil and Business Issues (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 645), in October 2022. Within the Mainland, the Supreme Folks’s Court docket promulgated a judicial interpretation on Monday to implement the association. The association was applied beneath Article 95 of the Fundamental Regulation, which permits Hong Kong to keep up juridical relations with the judicial organs of different components of the nation to offer mutual help.

The association is not going to routinely impose judgments from throughout the border in Hong Kong. As a substitute, judgments will undergo procedural steps and could also be refused enforcement beneath sure circumstances outlined within the regulation. Part 5 of the Ordinance excludes sure classes of judgments, comparable to matrimonial and household regulation judgments, judgments for enforcement of arbitral awards and company and private insolvency judgments.

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam, SC, highlighted that the association showcases the distinctive benefits loved by Hong Kong beneath the “one nation, two methods” precept. Lam remarked that implementing the association is predicted to reinforce Hong Kong’s popularity as a regional mental property buying and selling heart and a hub for worldwide authorized and dispute decision providers.

The association broadens the scope of civil and industrial judgments from mainland China that may be acknowledged and enforced in Hong Kong. In accordance with an area regulation agency, the association will cut back the necessity for re-litigation in Hong Kong and save time, prices and assets. Moreover, judgment collectors will be capable of pursue injunctions and orders for particular efficiency, increasing their choices for imposing judgments.

The association comes at a time when Hong Kong is making ready to enact new nationwide safety legal guidelines referred to as Article 23. Chief Govt John Lee Ka-chiu emphasised the necessity to clarify Article 23 completely and warned of troublemakers in a convention final week.