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New Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance: official commencement date announced
Practical Law UK Legal Update 2-505-4280 (Approx. 2 pages)
New Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance: official commencement date announced
by Practical Law
| Published on 31 Mar 2011 • Hong Kong - PRC |
John Choong (Senior Associate), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
The new Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance will come into effect on 1 June 2011, according to a government gazette notice of 22 February 2011. It is anticipated that the new Arbitration Ordinance will make Hong Kong an even more attractive venue to parties looking for efficiency and certainty in the resolution of their disputes.
The new Arbitration Ordinance incorporates a number of changes (see Legal update, Hong Kong passes new Arbitration Ordinance), the most noteworthy being the removal of the distinction between domestic and international arbitration which existed under the previous legislation, and the creation of a unified system based on the UNCITRAL Model Law. In addition, the new regime provides a framework designed to:
- Reduce judicial intervention.
- Permit more effective use of interim measures.
- Provide greater structure to costs and taxation procedures.
- Codify confidentiality provisions.
Because the Arbitration Ordinance provides for a six year transition period for domestic arbitrations, some of the changes will be adopted on a more gradual basis. Nonetheless, now that the framework for a unified system has been established it is expected that Hong Kong will be an even more attractive option for both domestic and international arbitrations.