HONG KONG SAR, CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Frederick Hui and Samuel Li, Zhong Lun Law Firm
2. Governing Legislation 2.1 Governing Law
October 2019, pursuant to which parties to Hong Kong arbitrations are able to apply for urgent inter - im measures from the courts of Mainland China in aid of Hong Kong arbitrations. • Hong Kong and Mainland China further signed the Supplemental Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between the Main - land and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in November 2020. A significant practical effect of the supplemental arrangement is that parties may now make simultaneous applications to the courts of Mainland China and Hong Kong for enforcement of an arbitral award. The primary requirement under the AO is that the arbi - tration agreement must be in writing, which includes electronic communications such as emails or digi - tal records that demonstrate the parties’ consent to arbitrate. The agreement should clearly express the intention to refer disputes to arbitration and, while not strictly mandatory, is advised to specify key elements such as the seat of arbitration (eg, Hong Kong), the number of arbitrators and the governing rules to avoid procedural uncertainties. 3.2 Arbitrability 3. The Arbitration Agreement 3.1 Enforceability Under the laws of Hong Kong, disputes are presumed arbitrable unless there is a clear public policy reason to exclude them. While arbitration is encouraged for a wide range of disputes, certain subject matters are considered non-arbitrable due to public policy con - siderations or specific legislative provisions. These include but are not limited to the following: • Criminal matters : Prosecutions and penalties imposed by the state cannot be resolved through arbitration. • Family law issues : Family law issues such as divorce, child custody and adoption are reserved for the Family Court. • Insolvency and winding - up proceedings : While claims involving individual debtor-creditor disputes may be arbitrable, the core procedures of corpo - rate insolvency (eg, adjudication of bankruptcy
The AO governs both international and domestic arbi - trations in a unified regime. It is largely based on the Model Law, and applies to all arbitrations seated in Hong Kong unless parties opt into limited domestic features. The AO incorporates key Model Law pillars – party autonomy, kompetenz - kompetenz , separability, limited court intervention, confidentiality, recognition and enforcement of awards, and grounds for setting aside mirroring Article 34. While closely aligned with the Model Law, Hong Kong has adopted several pro-arbitration refinements. Nota - ble features include robust court support for interim measures (including in aid of arbitrations seated out - side Hong Kong), a statutory emergency arbitrator regime with court enforceability of emergency relief, and an opt‑in schedule for certain domestic arbitration procedures (eg, appeals on questions of law by agree - ment). Hong Kong also provides streamlined mecha - nisms for enforcing both New York Convention and non‑Convention awards, and maintains clarified rules on third‑party funding and outcome-related fee struc - tures for arbitrations. These divergences are designed to enhance efficiency and enforceability while preserv - ing Model Law consistency. 2.2 Changes to National Law Over the past three years (2023–2025), Hong Kong has not made major changes to its main arbitration law (the AO). The major developments to the Hong Kong arbi - tration-related legal landscape in the last five years include the following: • Third-party funding and outcome-related fee struc - tures are allowed for Hong Kong arbitration after amendments to the AO in 2019 and 2022 respec - tively, and the relevant codes of practice have been updated from time to time. • Hong Kong and Mainland China signed the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in
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