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The Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (REJ Arrangement) entered between the Mainland and Hong Kong will come into operation on 29 January 2024.

To give effect to the long-awaited REJ Arrangement, the Hong Kong Government has gazetted the Mainland Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 645) (Ordinance), and more recently, the relevant rules on the court practice and procedure under the Ordinance.

In view of the deepening economic and business bonding between the Mainland and Hong Kong, readers may benefit from the Ordinance in the following ways:

  • There are advantages in resolving disputes before Hong Kong courts as Hong Kong has become the first jurisdiction with such extensive coverage of both monetary and non-monetary Mainland judgments including, certain intellectual property rights (e.g. copyright, trademark and patent). Before the coming into effect of the new law, the present regime covers only monetary judgments, where parties have agreed in their contract that a Mainland court has exclusive jurisdiction.
  • There will be a more cost-efficient, streamlined and straightforward mechanism for cross-border enforcement of Mainland judgments. The REJ Arrangement saves the parties from the present inconvenience of the need to start the action afresh and adduce foreign law expert evidence in Hong Kong, or re-litigate the matters before the Mainland courts. With the certainty and predictability offered by the Ordinance, this will help parties to manage litigation risks and save time on cross-border enforcement.
  • Parties will benefit from having the choice of resolving disputes in Hong Kong, a well-developed common law jurisdiction, as well as an emerging regional intellectual property trading centre and a regional hub for international legal and dispute resolution services, as outlined in the National 14th Five-Year Plan.

The REJ Arrangement has significant implications for the commercial and legal landscape between the Mainland and Hong Kong, and we have been tracking the development in this new area of law (see our previous articles on REJ Arrangement [LINK] and the Ordinance [LINK]). If you have any inquiries, please reach out to us to see how we may assist you under the new REJ Arrangement or any other way.

WRITTEN BY

Deacons
For further information, please contact:

Joseph Kwan – Partner, Deacons
joseph.kwan@deacons.com

Joseph is the head and leader of our Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department, which is one of the biggest litigation practices in Hong Kong. He is a very experienced and highly regarded lawyer who regularly helps clients to resolve disputes by providing legal advice with strategic insight.  For over 28 years of practice, he has represented clients in many substantial and/or high profile commercial litigations, SFC initiated proceedings and commercial fraud/bribery cases.

Joseph’s practice includes estate and trust matters, shareholders disputes, companies matters, listed companies investment disputes, cross border disputes and other types of complex litigation of substantial value.  Joseph and the team that he leads regularly advise clients on Regulatory investigations by the SFC, HKMA or the Stock Exchange. He also advises corporate clients and individuals in relation to bribery and fraud investigations.  His clients include Hong Kong listed companies, Fortune 500 companies, senior executives and Chinese families with significant investments in Hong Kong and overseas. He also regularly advises PRC based companies and their executives.

Highlights

  • Joseph acted for clients in a number of complex and high value disputes amongst members of prominent Chinese families with substantial assets.  These cases generated litigations over numerous issues in connection with for example the estate of the patriot of the family, discretionary trusts set up for the family members and/or shareholders disputes over family group of companies.
  • Advised a senior executive in one of the most high profile corruption cases in Hong Kong that was tried by jury in the High Court for over 6 months.
  • Represented a Fortune 500 technology company in a very complex disputes over the implementation of an IT solution. The case involves highly technical issues and a very substantial amount of documents.
  • Acted for a multinational petrol company in a High Court trial over an investment dispute.
  • Acted for an ex-senior executive of an American multinational financial services corporation in one of the biggest insider dealing cases in Hong Kong dealing with criminal prosecution and related civil proceedings.
  • Represented a banking client in an action against an international investment bank and others over the subscription of shares in a public listed company.
  • Represented a bank in dealing with credit card fraud case.
  • Dealt with a number of mis-selling cases involving complaints by bank’s customers, investigations by Regulators and internal compliance department as well as litigation to recover loss.
  • Acted for a number of banks in a large scale investigations by the SFC and HKMA in connection with the sale of mini-bonds.
  • Handled a number of cross border disputes, including acting for a listed company on a joint venture disputes in China, acting for a Hong Kong party in a High Court litigation in relation to a joint venture disputes over a property project in China, dealing with CIETAC Arbitration, PRC court proceedings and asset preservation orders in the PRC.
  • Acted for PRC clients in a dispute with a public listed company in Hong Kong over certain share options.
  • Represented a multi-national company in High Court trial in connection with a large scale employment disputes with former senior executives.
  • Over the years, Joseph represented main parties in high profile public inquiries in Hong Kong dealing with the inquiry itself and the related public relation issues.
  • Joseph also helped US firms in dealing with US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations.
  • Handled a wide range of contentious insolvency matters including cases involving one of the biggest department stores and one of the oldest construction companies in Hong Kong.

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