by Justin D’Agostino and Briana Young

On 28 March 2013, Hong Kong gazetted The Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2013. The Bill proposes amendments to Hong Kong’s Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609) to implement an arrangement for mutual enforcement of awards between Hong Kong and Macao, allow for enforcement of emergency arbitrator decisions in Hong Kong, and provide for court taxation of arbitration costs on a “party and party” basis.

The Bill will be introduced to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on 24 April, and it is hoped the amended legislation will come into force by the end of August 2013.

In January this year, Hong Kong and Macao signed the Arrangement Concerning Reciprocal Recognition an [...]

By Justin D’Agostino, Martin Wallace and Yi-Shun Teoh

The Year of the Snake has begun auspiciously for arbitration in Hong Kong, with a recent decision of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (“CFA”) underlining once again the jurisdiction’s arbitration-friendly credentials and the reluctance of its courts to interfere with the arbitral process and arbitral Awards.

On 19 February 2013, the CFA refused leave to appeal against the judgment of the Hong Kong Court of Appeal (“CA”) in Grand Pacific Holdings Ltd. v. Pacific China Holdings Ltd. (click here for a copy of the judgment). The CA’s judgment, which has been widely applauded in the arbitration community since being handed down in May 2012 [...]

By Justin D’Agostino, Tracy Wu and Briana Young
The Hong Kong Court of Appeal recently awarded indemnity costs against an applicant who attempted unsuccessfully to set aside an arbitral award. In a decision that many will welcome, the Hong Kong court has sent another strong message of support for the finality of the arbitral process.

In Pacific China Holdings Ltd v Grand Pacific Holdings Ltd CACV 136/2011, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance set aside an ICC award in favour of Grand Pacific, a Hong Kong-based investment company, on the basis of breaches of Article 34(2)(a)(ii) and (iv) of the UNCITRAL Model Law. The Court held that Pacific China had been “unable to present its case”, an [...]

The China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC“) has recently published its revised Arbitration Rules, which will come into force on 1 May 2012 (the “2012 Rules“). This is the seventh revision of the CIETAC Rules since they were first published in 1956. Whilst the majority of the changes in the 2012 Rules are aimed at clarifying existing practice, a number of the developments may have a significant impact on the conduct of CIETAC proceedings in the future.

The publication of the 2012 Rules comes at a time when CIETAC’s influence is perhaps greater than it has ever been. Whilst many alternatives exist, CIETAC maintains a dominant position in China, where PRC [...]

The HKIAC has launched a consultation process to consider modifications to its Administered Arbitration Rules, which came into force on 1 September 2008 (the “Rules”).

Users of the Rules have been invited to comment on proposed amendments outlined in a HKIAC consultation paper dated 15 December 2011. A copy of the consultation paper can be found here.

A number of firms and individuals have already submitted comments as part of this process, which is a welcome move to ensure that the Rules continue to reflect the best of modern practice, in keeping with HKIAC’s status as one of the world’s pre-eminent arbitration institutions.

The Council’s overall view is that the existing Rules are worki [...]

Last month’s judgment of the Hong Kong Court of Appeal (“CA“) in Gao Haiyan and Xie Heping v. Keeneye Holdings and another CACV 79/2011, is the latest in a long line of cases demonstrating the pro-enforcement approach of the Hong Kong courts. The decision makes clear that it is not the place of the Hong Kong courts to comment on the merits of an arbitral award. Rather, the courts’ role in enforcing arbitral awards should be as mechanistic as possible. This is consistent with existing caselaw on enforcement and reinforces the respect of the Hong Kong courts for the finality of arbitral awards.

The CA in Keeneye reversed the much-discussed decision of the Hong Kong Court of First Instance [...]