Greater Bay Area Arbitration Forum & Alliance Conference on Tech & Rules Successfully Concludes

Hong Kong - Media OutReach Newswire - May 11, 2024 - The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Arbitration "Go" was held at the Conrad Hotel in Admiralty, Hong Kong on May 9, 2024. It was hosted by the Hong Kong Arbitrators Association and co-organized by the Nansha International Arbitration Center of the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission. "Going Out" Cooperation and Development Forum: Technology Leadership·Rule Coordination and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Arbitration Alliance Conference concluded successfully. At this meeting, Deputy Director of the Department of Justice of Guangdong Province Liang Zhen, Secretary of the Standing Committee of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee Sun Taiping, Deputy Director of the Department of Justice of Hong Kong Zhang Guojun, Judge Bao Zhijin, non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, and President of the Hong Kong Arbitrators Association Kwong Chi-keung Taiping CK Kwong JP, as well as outstanding leaders, arbitrators and industry experts from various arbitration institutions and the business community, jointly discussed the development and impact of digitalization and rule convergence in the Greater Bay Area on arbitration.

Picture above: Group photo of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Arbitration "Going Global" Cooperation and Development Forum

[Hong Kong’s advantages in the development of arbitration cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area]

In his speech at the opening of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Arbitration, Mr. Kwong Chi-keung, JP, President of the Hong Kong Arbitrators Association, emphasized the role of arbitration in resolving disputes arising from modern cross-border trade and commercial activities. role. Modern cross-border trade and business practices involve the laws of different countries, regions and jurisdictions between multiple contract parties. Arbitration can handle disputes involving multiple jurisdictions at one time, and arbitral awards can be recognized and enforced in 172 countries in accordance with the New York Convention. Therefore, it has become an efficient and widely recognized method for resolving domestic and foreign disputes. Commercial arbitration has become an internationally accepted channel for resolving commercial disputes, and local arbitration institutions have also become an important mechanism for resolving international commercial disputes. "We say in terms of judicial justice, "justice delayed is justice denied. Delayed justice is equivalent to no justice." If we say "Fairness is the soul of arbitration, efficiency is the lifeline of arbitration." Between fairness and efficiency It is not easy to strike a balance between them. In the digital environment, the use of artificial intelligence to assist dispute resolution has become a necessary and irreversible practice. However, artificial intelligence cannot replace arbitrators, and the authority and responsibility of adjudication have always been the same. Performed and borne by the arbitrator. As outlined in the Supreme People’s Court’s Opinion on the Judicial Application of Artificial Intelligence (File No. 33 of 2022), he emphasized the continuous optimization of arbitration laws and rules to adapt to different legal systems, technological advancements, and arbitration. The importance of industry development needs.

The arbitration law reform proposed by President Kwong was passed as the Hong Kong Arbitration (Amendment) Ordinance 2017. This legislation is the first legislation in the world to clearly explain the validity of intellectual property disputes (including registered intellectual property rights). ), can be resolved by arbitration. It highlighted the advantages of using Hong Kong law as the governing law of the arbitration agreement and Hong Kong as the seat of arbitration. Subsequently, Singapore also made amendments to the European Patent Court rules in 2019. With the consent of both parties, the arbitral tribunal can issue an award on the validity or invalidity of registered intellectual property rights. This reflects the coherence and common characteristics of arbitration laws. China has become a major country in intellectual property rights and an international contract for enterprises to go global. , the use of Hong Kong law and the seat of arbitration will make it easier for Chinese companies to effectively protect their rights and interests. President Kwong also recommended the book "Hong Kong" written by him and former president Wang Zezuo and published by the Hong Kong Arbitrators Association in November last year. Hong Kong Arbitration Judgments and Commentaries (Hong Kong Courts’ Judgments and Commentaries on Arbitration) will help industry insiders or interested readers learn more about Hong Kong and international arbitration.

Liang Zhen, Deputy Director of the Department of Justice of Guangdong Province, mentioned in his speech. In a context where international competition is increasingly reflected in a battle over institutional rules and laws, Guangdong, as the country's largest province open to foreign trade, needs to be at the forefront of the country in the construction of foreign-related legal systems. It must accelerate the advancement of the rule of law represented by Hong Kong and Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The International Commercial Arbitration Center will build and enhance the leading positive effect of arbitration in the Greater Bay Area. It will continue to improve the level of digitalization, networking, and intelligence of arbitration, and explore the use of information technology to enhance the transparency of arbitration and transform the challenges of the industrial revolution. A strategic opportunity for future development. The convergence of rules is the only way for the coordinated development of arbitration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have different administrative systems and legal systems under the framework of one country, two systems and the Basic Law. Respect each other's legal systems and jurisdictions and further study the soft connection of the rules and systems of the three places. This kind of connection between the rules and systems neither completely eliminates differences nor creates institutional barriers due to differences. It should maintain their respective characteristics. On the basis of advantages and disadvantages, we should turn differences into motivation to achieve effective connection and create a good arbitration environment for efficient and convenient cross-border circulation of elements. Deputy Director Liang Zhen also mentioned that Hong Kong is a place where Chinese and Western cultures blend. It has a free economic system with tight internal and external systems that can be in line with international market rules.

Sun Taiping, member of the Standing Committee of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee and Secretary of the Municipal Law Committee, said that this meeting is of great significance in deepening mutually beneficial cooperation between the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao and further enhancing the supporting and leading role of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in national economic development and opening up to the outside world. Implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech on the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, adhere to the development concept of innovation, coordination, openness and sharing, comprehensively deepen reform, promote high-quality development and enhance people’s livelihood and well-being. Guangzhou will actively play its role in the construction of the Greater Bay Area and contribute Guangzhou's strength to join hands with Hong Kong, Macau and other sister cities to jointly build an international first-class bay area and a world-class city cluster. In his speech, he also expressed the hope that all representatives can join hands with each other to actively promote resource sharing and joint construction to drive the Greater Bay Area arbitration in terms of rule connection, innovation and technology-led platform construction, and take the lead in forming more replicable and promoteable experiences. To better optimize China's legal and modern business environment and make new and greater contributions to the integrated development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

In his speech at the working meeting of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Arbitration "Going Global" Cooperation and Development Forum, Deputy Secretary for Justice Zhang Guojun mentioned that in terms of the convergence of rules, the Department of Justice is actively striving to integrate the "Hong Kong-funded Hong Kong Law" and "Hong Kong-funded Hong Kong Arbitration" The scope of application of the measures is extended to the entire Greater Bay Area, allowing more Hong Kong-funded enterprises in the area, including foreign-funded enterprises established in Hong Kong, to use Hong Kong laws as the basis for civil and commercial contracts without "foreign-related factors". The application of laws and the choice of Hong Kong as the seat of arbitration will increase the options for Hong Kong-funded enterprises in handling cross-border disputes and help build a market-oriented and international business environment in the Greater Bay Area. The governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have been working hard to promote the formulation of unified standards for dispute resolution services. For example, the three governments established a joint meeting system for the legal departments of the Greater Bay Area as early as 2019, and have successively adopted and issued it at the joint meeting. Regarding mediation, the "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Mediator Qualifications Assessment Standards", "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Mediators' Best Code of Professional Conduct" and "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Cross-Border Dispute Mediation Model Rules". The Department of Justice has released the detailed assessment rules for the qualifications of mediators in the Greater Bay Area in March this year. It has also promoted the establishment of a roster of mediators in the Greater Bay Area and is actively planning to hold training courses for mediators in the Greater Bay Area in Hong Kong so that the industry can Meet the qualification requirements for mediator qualifications in the Greater Bay Area by attending courses. The measures in the Department of Justice's "Action Program for the Construction of the Rule of Law in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" will help promote the development of law and dispute resolution in the Greater Bay Area, allowing different arbitration and mediation institutions and industry players in the region to showcase their strengths, complement each other's strengths, and give full play to Synergy effect, mutual benefit and win-win situation.