HONG KONG SAR, CHINA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Stephen Peaker, Yvonne Kong, Lauren Ng and Gabriel Yuen, Oldham, Li & Nie
was enacted – the main purpose of which was to incorporate the Information Technology Strategy Plan (ITSP) into the Hong Kong court system. The objective of the ITSP was to enhance the accessibility, transparency and efficiency of case management by providing more electronic ser - vices – namely: • electronic filing, service and storage of court documents; • electronic payment of court fees; and • electronic authentication of court documents that are required to be signed, sealed or certi - fied. Under the ITSP, an integrated case management system (“iCMS”) is being developed gradually in phases to allow court users the option to file, seal and serve court documents instantly upon uploading onto the e-system, in addition to the traditional paper-based system. This not only creates immediate access to legal documents for members of the judiciary and litigators but also saves time and costs for legal practition - ers by reducing the time and workforce spent in printing and photocopying court documents and the need for law clerks to attend court personally for filing and service. There are many more benefits to implementing the e-filing system into the Hong Kong Family Court, including but not limited to: • environmental benefits from significantly reducing the consumption of paper; • better administration of justice by eliminat - ing errors commonly seen in paper-based systems; and • improving public access to justice, as this would enable court users other than judicial officers to transact court business by elec - tronic means remotely around the clock, with -
out restriction of the office hours and location of the judiciary. As of January 2025, the e-filing system is only applicable and available for personal injury actions, tax claim proceedings, civil action proceedings, employees’ compensation cas - es in the district court, and summons cases in the magistrates’ courts. While the judiciary administration reported that the iCMS would be extended to the Court of Final Appeal, the High Court, the non-summons courts of the mag - istrates’ courts and the Small Claims Tribunal commencing in the last quarter of 2024, this has not been fully rolled out to date. While there is no confirmed date as to when the iCMS will be extended to the remaining courts and tribunals (including the family court), it is hoped that fur - ther announcements will be made soon, as the expansion of the iCMS will bring welcome relief to court users – especially litigants-in-person, who make up the significant proportion of family court users – by making the family court more accessible and user-friendly. Children Bill In 2015, the Labour and Welfare Bureau pre - pared the draft Children Proceedings (Paren - tal Responsibility) Bill (the legislative proposal) (the “Children Bill”). The Children Bill represents efforts and attempts to bring forth the impor - tant concept of parental responsibility into Hong Kong family law – a concept many other jurisdic - tions have adopted. Under current family law in Hong Kong, the rela - tionship between parents and child is based on the concept of “custody” and “care and con - trol”; such wordings are commonly used in court documents and orders, with emphasis on par - ents’ rights rather than the rights of their child/ children. The Law Society of Hong Kong has
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