ONC Lawyers

Recognition & Enforcement of Judgment and Arbitral Award in China

Within two decades since the return of Hong Kong’s sovereignty to China, the courts of Hong Kong and Mainland China have handled more than 20,000 judicial assistance cases in accordance with various arrangements and respective local legislations. The establishment of mutual legal assistance system has protected the litigants’ legitimate interests, facilitating the social exchanges and economic development between the two jurisdictions.

We assist Hong Kong companies in enforcing court judgments and arbitral awards obtained in the PRC and Hong Kong by virtue of the “Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region”, the “Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Civil Judgments in Matrimonial and Family Cases by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” and the “Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region”, etc.

Our China Practice team can represent Hong Kong companies in litigations and arbitrations in the PRC and assist them in enforcing judgments and arbitral awards in the PRC. We can also assist clients in obtaining injunctions and other interim measures in the PRC pursuant to the “Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region”, pending the determination of the arbitration in Hong Kong.

If you would like to know more about our China Law practice or how we can help your business, please contact us at (852) 2810 1212 or at china@onc.hk.

Please refer to our articles in ‘Knowledge’

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Opposing the Enforcement of PRC Arbitral Award on Public Policy Ground? Not as Easy as You Think!

Introduction Pursuant to the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, subject to certain conditions, Hong Kong courts shall enforce arbitral awards made by recognized PRC arbitral authorities; and vice versa, the designated PRC courts shall enforce Hong Kong arbitral awards. One of the conditions under which Hong Kong courts may refuse to enforce a PRC arbitral award is where the enforcement of the award would be contrary to public policy. The Court of Appeal decision Gao Haiyan & Anor v Keeneye Holdings Ltd & Anor [2012] 1 HKC 335 illustrates the Court’s narrow and stringent interpretation of the public policy ground for refusal of enforcement of arbitral award.

When Can a Person be Prosecuted in Hong Kong for a Cross-border Crime?

In modern times, with the advancement of technologies, some crimes are no longer restricted by geographic or territorial limits. A person does not necessarily have to be physically present in the place where the crime is intended to take place. A crime can also be committed in a place where the intended results occur elsewhere. In such kind of cross-border crimes, do Hong Kong Courts have jurisdiction to try the crimes? This article explores the extra-territorial criminal jurisdiction of the Courts in Hong Kong.

Updates on the mutual enforcement of arbitral awards between the PRC and the HKSAR

Prior to the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, mutual enforcement of arbitral awards between the PRC and Hong Kong was carried out pursuant to the New York Convention (the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards). However, as Hong Kong then became a Special Administrative Region of the PRC in 1997, such an arrangement ceased to apply as it is only applicable between sovereign states. Without the New York Convention in place, there had been a period when it was difficult to enforce PRC arbitral awards in Hong Kong and vice versa before the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region came into effect in February 2000. Pursuant to the Arrangement, enforcement of PRC arbitral awards in Hong Kong and enforcement of Hong Kong arbitral awards in the PRC are again made possible. Yet, the Arrangement contains several limitations which had, in the past, led to some applications for enforcing arbitral awards prone to being refused by the PRC and Hong Kong Courts.