HONG KONG SAR, CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: George Lamplough, Vanessa Cheng and Curtis Pak, Holman Fenwick Willan
MJREO The MJREO came into force on 29 January 2024, superseding the recognition and enforcement regime under the previous Mainland Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 597). The MJREO now includes most judgments from Mainland China on civil or commercial matters and covers both monetary and non-monetary reliefs. Certain types of judgments, such as judgments concerning matrimonial or family law, have been expressly excluded. A Mainland judgment is registrable under the MJREO if the judgment: • was handed down on or after 29 January 2024; • is enforceable in the Mainland and given: (a) by the Supreme People’s Court; (b) at second instance by a High People’s Court or an Intermediate People’s Court; or (c) at first instance by a High People’s Court, an Intermediate People’s Court or a Pri - mary People’s Court and no appeal is al - lowed (or the time limit has expired) under the law of the Mainland; and • is not an excluded judgment under section 5 of MJREO. Common Law Judgments of the courts of jurisdictions not list - ed in the FJREO or MJREO must be enforced at common law. A foreign judgment may be enforced at common law if it is: • final and conclusive upon the merits; and
priority (unlike, for instance, secured creditors) and will rank pari passu with all other creditors of the same class. 5.2 Enforcement of Foreign Judgments As Hong Kong is not a signatory of the Hague Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, foreign judgments can only be enforced in Hong Kong either through the: • Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 319) ( “FJREO” ) • Mainland Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 645) ( “MJREO” ) or • common law. FJREO The FJREO applies to judgments from 15 juris - dictions, including Australia, Malaysia and Sin - gapore. A foreign judgment is registrable under FJREO if the judgment: • is given in the superior court of the jurisdic - tion; • is final and conclusive; • is an order for a sum of money (other than taxes, fines or penalties); • has not been wholly satisfied; and • could be enforced by execution in the foreign country. Section 6(1) of the FJREO allows a judgment debtor to set aside registration of a foreign judg - ment in specific circumstances, such as lack of jurisdiction of the original court and public policy.
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