Ms. Teresa Cheng SC, former Hong Kong Secretary for Justice, and Mr. Edward Liu, a Hong Kong-based partner at Haiwen & Partners, have co-authored an article, which was published by Asia Business Law Journal on 14 April 2023, to explore the attributes of Hong Kong in becoming the leading Asia-Pacific international legal and dispute resolution centre.
In this article, the exclusivity and strengths of three particular arrangements in Hong Kong arbitration proceedings are explored, namely the interim measures arrangement and mutual enforcement of arbitral awards arrangement between the Mainland and Hong Kong, as well as the outcome related fee structures for arbitration (ORFSA).
The interim measures arrangement came into force on 1 October 2019. In gist, it allows parties to apply to the corresponding Mainland or Hong Kong courts, as the case may be, for interim measures before the issuance of the arbitral award, and the purpose of such interim measures is to secure the parties’ claims by way of preserving the property, evidence, and conduct.
The mutual enforcement of arbitral awards arrangement was signed on 27 November 2020 as a supplement to its predecessor that was signed on 21 June 1999. It has further enhanced the enforcement regimes as, for instance, it permits courts in Hong Kong and the Mainland to impose preservation measures before or after the court’s acceptance of an application to enforce an arbitral award, and allows an award creditor to apply for enforcement of awards in both the Mainland and Hong Kong at the same time.
ORFSA came into operation on 16 December 2022 and it has introduced three possible fee agreements in arbitration proceedings, including conditional fee agreement, damages-based agreement, and hybrid-damages-based agreement. This has introduced flexibility for the parties and their lawyers to agree on the fee arrangement after due consideration of the parties’ financial capability and liquidity.
Overall, it is believed that these arrangements can give Hong Kong a unique edge in protecting the interests of the parties involved in the dispute, which in turn enhances Hong Kong’s appeal as the international arbitration centre.
作为海问香港专责处理争议解决业务的合伙人，同时亦是一名仲裁员。刘洋律师对在香港、伦敦和新加坡等多个司法管辖区进行国际仲裁拥有丰富的经验和知识，曾处理的案件争议包括公司和金融、能源和离岸工程、航运和大宗商品等领域。刘律师近期被《商法》评为中国法律市场的精英律师之一，尤其被赞誉为“屈指可数的拥有内地背景，但又具国际视野和经验，以及兼有中国内地、香港和英国三地执业资格的专注争议解决领域的律师”。 因此，凭借刘洋律师的丰富经验，海问香港的争议解决项目组成为跨国公司、中国国有企业和私营机构的优先选择。
