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| No.5 October, 2012 |
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New arbitration centre enhances HK's legal services hub status |
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 The newly established China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) Hong Kong Arbitration Centre would enhance Hong Kong’s status as an international dispute resolution centre, said Hong Kong Secretary for Justice, Mr Rimsky Yuen, SC.
At the inauguration ceremony for the CIETAC Hong Kong Arbitration Centre, Mr Yuen said that the new Arbitration Ordinance, which came into effect in June 2011, represented a major milestone in efforts to enhance Hong Kong's arbitration regime.
 The Ordinance reinforces the advantages of arbitration, including respect for the parties’ autonomy, savings in time and costs, and confidentiality in arbitration proceedings and related court hearings.
Mr Yuen pointed out that arbitral awards made in Hong Kong could be enforced in over 140 contracting jurisdictions under the New York Convention.
Regarding the Mainland, in 1999 the Supreme People's Court and the Department of Justice signed the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards, which was modeled on the principles of the New York Convention and sets out the conditions for mutual enforcement of arbitral awards.
It has been effectively implemented by courts in both Hong Kong and the Mainland, further strengthening the status of Hong Kong as a regional centre for international arbitration.
Mr Yuen said, "The establishment of the CIETAC Hong Kong Arbitration Centre, coupled with the existing arbitral institutions in Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and the Secretariat of the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration (Asia Office), will place Hong Kong in an even stronger position to meet the demand for high-end arbitration services."
A conference on arbitration was held after the ceremony to promote greater use of arbitration in the business community and give participants a better understanding of the new centre and the development of arbitration services in both the Mainland and Hong Kong.
More than 200 people from the legal and arbitration services and representatives of commercial organisations attended the conference, during which they discussed the stepping up of co-operation between the arbitration services of Hong Kong and the Mainland.
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