Laws & Regulations

According to Article 95 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the Supreme People's Court and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("SAR") Government have made the following arrangements regarding the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial cases:

Article 1  These Arrangements apply to the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of effective judgments in civil and commercial cases between courts of the Mainland and Hong Kong SAR.

These Arrangements also apply to the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of effective judgments on civil compensation in criminal cases.

Article 2  For the purpose of these Arrangement, the term "civil and commercial cases" refers to the cases of civil and commercial nature based on either the laws of the Mainland or the laws of the Hong Kong SAR, excluding judicial review cases heard by the Hong Kong SAR Courts and other cases directly arising from the exercise of administrative power.

Article 3  These Arrangements are not currently applicable to judgments on the following civil and commercial cases:

(1) Cases of supporting parents, supporting brothers and sisters, releasing adoption relationships or custody of adults, damage liability after divorce, and property division after termination of cohabitation relationship heard by domestic People's Courts; as well as cases heard by the Hong Kong SAR courts for judging separation.

(2) Inheritance cases, estate management or assignment cases;

(3) Cases of infringement of invention patents or utility model patents heard by domestic People's Courts; cases of infringement of relevant standard patents (including original grant of patents) and short-term patents heard by the Hong Kong SAR court; cases of confirmation of standard essential patent licensing rates heard by courts of the Mainland or Hong Kong SAR, and intellectual property cases not stipulated in Article 5 hereof;

(4) Cases of marine environmental pollution, limits on maritime claims liability, general average, emergency towing and salvage, maritime liens, or sea passenger transport;

(5) Bankruptcy (liquidation) cases;

(6) Cases to confirm the electoral qualification, to declare that a natural person is missing or dead, or to determine that a natural person has restricted or no civil capacity;

(7) Cases to confirm the validity of arbitration agreements or revocation of arbitral awards; and

(8) Cases of recognition and enforcement of judgments or arbitral awards rendered by other countries and regions.

Article 4  In the Mainland, "judgments" mentioned in these Arrangements include judgments, rulings, mediation documents, payment orders, with the exclusion of preservation decisions; while in the Hong Kong SAR, "judgments" mentioned in these Arrangements include judgments, orders, rulings, and litigation costs certificates, with the exclusion of injunctions and temporary relief orders.

For the purpose of these Arrangements, "effective judgments" refer to:

(1) In the Mainland, judgments of second instance, judgments of first instance for which appeal is  not allowed or the statutory time limit has exceeded, and the aforesaid judgments rendered under the trial supervision procedures;

(2) In the Hong Kong SAR, judgments made by the Court of Final Appeal, the Court of Appeal of the High Court, the Court of First Instance, the District Court, the Labour Tribunal, the Lands Tribunal, the Small Claims Tribunal or the Competition Tribunal, which have already come into force.

Article 5  For the purpose of these Arrangements, "intellectual property" refers to the intellectual property stipulated under Clause 2 of Article 1 of the Protocol on Trade-Related Intellectual Property, and the intellectual property granted to the right holders of new plant varieties under Item 7, Clause 2, Article 123 of the General Rules of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China and the Plant Variety Protection Regulations in Hong Kong.

Article 6  For the purpose of these Arrangements, a "place of residence" refers to the place where the household registration or permanent resident status is located or the place of permanent residence if the party is a natural person, or refers to the place of registration, the location of main office, principal place of business or principal place of management if the party is a legal person or any other organisations.

Article 7  An application for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of a judgment provided in these Arrangements shall be made to:

(1) In the Mainland, the Intermediate People's Court at the domicile of the applicant or the respondent, or place where the property is located;

(2) In the Hong Kong SAR, the High Court.

The applicant shall apply to one of the courts provided in the first Item of the preceding paragraph. If the applicant applies to two or more courts that have jurisdiction, the People's Court that files the case first shall have the jurisdiction over the case.

Article 8  To apply for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of any judgment provided for in these Arrangements, the following documents shall be submitted:

(1) Application in writing;

(2) A copy of the judgment with the seal of the court that made the effective judgment;

(3) A certificate issued by the court that has made the effective judgment, which proves that the judgment is effective. If the judgment has a content of execution, such court shall also prove that the judgement can be executed at the location of the court of the original trial;

(4) If the judgment is a default judgment, the documents proving that the parties have been legally summoned shall be submitted, unless the judgment has clearly stated this or it is the absent party that has made the application for recognition and enforcement;

(5) Identification materials:

(a) If the applicant is a natural person, a copy of the identity document shall be submitted; or

(b) If the applicant is a legal person or any other organisation, a copy of the registration certificate and a copy of the identity document of the legal representative or principal responsible person shall be submitted.

Where the above-mentioned identity certification materials are formed outside the country of the requested party, the certification procedures shall be carried out in accordance with the law of the place where the requested party is located.

If the documents submitted to domestic People's Courts do not have Chinese texts, an accurate Chinese translation shall be submitted.

Article 9  An application in writing shall indicate the following matters:

(1) Basic information of the party concerned: the party's name, domicile and identity document as well as the communication method if the party is a natural person; or the party's name and location, and the name, position, residence, identity document information of the party's legal representative or principal responsible person as well as the communication method if the party is a legal person or any other organisation;

(2) The matters and reasons for the request; if execution is applied, the property status and the location of the property of the respondent shall be provided; and

(3) Whether the judgment has been applied for execution in other courts.

Article 10  The period, procedure and method of applying for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of a judgment shall be governed by the law of the requested party.

Article 11  If one of the following circumstances is met and the lawsuit is not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the requested party's court, the requested party's court shall determine that the court of first instance has jurisdiction:

(1) When the court of the first instance accepts the case, the defendant's domicile is in the territory of the same country;

(2) When the court of first instance accepts the case, the defendant has a representative organisation, branch, office, place of business or any other body that is not an independent legal person in the territory of the same country, and the claim is based on the activities of such body;

(3) For a lawsuit brought by a contractual dispute, the place where the contract is performed is in the territory of the same country;

(4) For a lawsuit brought by tort, the infringement is committed in the territory of the same country;

(5) If the jurisdiction of the court of first instance has been agreed in writing by parties to a contractual dispute or a dispute on other property rights, but the places of residence of the parties are both in the territory of the requested party, the court of first instance shall be the place of performance of the contract, the place where the contract is signed, the location of the subject matter and the place that is actually related to the dispute; and

(6) If the parties do not file a jurisdictional objection to the court of first instance and respond to the defence, and the places of residence of the parties are both in the territory of the requested party, the court of first instance shall be the place of performance of the contract, the place where the contract is signed, the location of the subject matter and the place that is actually related to the dispute;

The term "in writing" mentioned in the preceding paragraph refers to such forms as contracts, letters and data messages (including telegrams, telexes, faxes, electronic data exchanges and e-mails) that can tangibly represent the contents contained therein.

For cases of intellectual property infringement disputes and civil cases of unfair competition disputes under Article 6 of the PRC Anti-monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China heard by domestic People's Courts, and counterfeiting disputes heard by the Hong Kong SAR courts, if the infringement, unfair competition or counterfeiting conducts were implemented within the territory of the original court, and the involved intellectual property  and interests shall be protected according to law in the territory of the same country, the court of first instance shall be deemed to have jurisdiction.

Except as provided by Clauses 1 and 3, if the court of the requested party considers that the jurisdiction of the court of first instance is in compliance with the law of the requested party, it may determine that the court of first instance has jurisdiction.

Article 12  For an application for recognition and enforcement of a judgment, if the respondent provides evidence to prove one of the following circumstances, the court of the requested party shall not recognise and enforce the judgement upon conducting review and verification:

(1) The jurisdiction of the court of first instance in relation to the lawsuit is not in compliance with the provisions of Article 11 of these Arrangements;

(2) According to the law of the place where the court of first instance is located, the respondent has not been legally summoned, or has been legally summoned but has not obtained a reasonable opportunity to make a statement or debate;

(3) The judgment was obtained by fraudulent means;

(4) After the court of the requested party accepts the relevant lawsuit, the court of first instance files a lawsuit under the same dispute and makes a judgment;

(5) The court of the requested party has already made a judgment on the same dispute or has already accepted the judgment made by another country or region for the same dispute; or

(6) The requested party has already made an arbitral award for the same dispute, or has already accepted an arbitral award made by another country or region for the same dispute.

If a domestic People's Court considers that the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of a judgment rendered by a Hong Kong SAR court obviously violate the basic principles of the laws of the Mainland or the public interest, or a Hong Kong SAR court considers that the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of a judgment rendered by a domestic People's Court obviously violate the basic principles of the Hong Kong SAR law or the public policy, the reciprocal recognition and enforcement shall not be allowed.

Article 13  For the judgment under an application for reciprocal recognition and enforcement, if the respondent provides evidence that the litigation in the court of first instance violates the valid arbitration agreement or jurisdiction agreement entered into by the parties in relation to the same dispute, and the court of requested party has verified it, the application for reciprocal recognition and enforcement may be rejected.

Article 14  The court of the requested party shall not reject the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of a judgment only because the pre-requisite question of the judgment does not fall within the scope of these Arrangements.

Article 15  Reciprocal recognition and enforcement shall not be given to a judgment made by the court of first instance regarding the validity, establishment or existence of intellectual property, but if the decision of distribution of responsibility made based on such judgment is in accordance with the provisions of these Arrangements, reciprocal recognition and enforcement shall be allowed.

Article 16  A reciprocally recognised and enforced judgment includes monetary judgment and non-monetary judgment.

Where a judgment includes punitive damages, the part of punitive damage shall not be recognised and enforced, except as provided by Article 17 of these Arrangements.

Article 17  The reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments on cases of intellectual property infringement disputes, civil cases of unfair competition disputes under Article 6 of the Anti-monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China heard by domestic People's Courts and counterfeiting disputes heard by the Hong Kong SAR courts are limited to monetary judgments based on infringements committed in the place of the courts of first instance, including the part of punitive damages.

Reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments on trade secret infringement disputes shall include monetary judgments (including punitive damages) and non-monetary judgments.

Article 18  The scope of property payment for reciprocal recognition and enforcement by courts of the Mainland and of Hong Kong SAR shall include the payment of property ruled in the judgment and the corresponding interests, legal costs, money for delay in performance, and interests for delay in performance, but shall exclude taxes and fines.

The term "legal costs" referred to in the preceding paragraph refers to the fee assessed or ordered to be paid in litigation costs certificates in the Hong Kong SAR.

Article 19  If the court of the requested part cannot carry out reciprocal recognition and enforcement of all rulings in a judgment, it may implement part of them.

Article 20  In the event that, for a judgment made by a Hong Kong SAR Court, one of the parties has appealed, and the domestic People's Court has, upon review and verification, suspended the reciprocal recognition and enforcement procedure. Upon appeal, if all or part of the original judgment is maintained, the reciprocal recognition and enforcement procedure shall be resumed; if the original judgment is completely changed, the reciprocal Recognition and enforcement procedure shall be terminated.

In the event that the domestic People's Court has ruled a retrial, and the Hong Kong SAR Court has, upon review and verification, suspended the reciprocal recognition and enforcement procedure. Upon retrial, if all or part of the original judgment is maintained, the reciprocal recognition and enforcement procedure shall be resumed; if the original judgment is completely changed, the reciprocal recognition and enforcement procedure shall be terminated.

Article 21  If the respondent has property for execution in both the Mainland and the Hong Kong SAR, the applicant may apply to the courts in both jurisdictions separately.

In response to the request of the court of the opposite party, the courts of the two places shall provide each other with the execution situation of the judgment.

The total amount of property executed by the courts of the two places shall not exceed the amount determined by the judgment.

Article 22  During the trial of a civil or commercial case, if the parties apply for reciprocal recognition and enforcement of the judgment rendered by another place's court's on the same dispute, such application shall be accepted. After the acceptance, the relevant lawsuit shall be suspended, and the lawsuit shall be terminated or resumed after the ruling or order on the application for reciprocal recognition and enforcement has been made.

Article 23  During the review period for the application for reciprocal recognition and enforcement of a judgment, if the parties file a lawsuit against the same dispute, the application shall not be accepted; if it has been accepted, the lawsuit shall be rejected.

After the judgment is fully recognised and enforced, if the parties file a lawsuit against the same dispute, the case shall not be filed.

If the judgment has not obtained or not fully obtained reciprocal recognition and enforcement, the applicant may not apply for reciprocal recognition and enforcement again, but may file a lawsuit with the court of the requested party on the same dispute.

Article 24  The court of the requested party may, before or after accepting the application for reciprocal recognition and enforcement of a judgement, adopt preservation or mandatory measures according to the laws of the requested party.

Article 25  The court shall review an application for reciprocal recognition and enforcement, and make a ruling or order in a timely manner.

Article 26  After the court of the requested party makes a ruling or order on an application for reciprocal recognition and enforcement, if the parties refuse to accept it, they may apply for reconsideration to the upper People's Court within 10 days from the date when the ruling is served in the mainland, or appeal according to Hong Kong laws in the Hong Kong SAR.

Article 27  The application for reciprocal recognition and enforcement of a judgment shall be accompanied by payment of fees according to the laws and rules at the place of the requested party on litigation costs.

Article 28  After the signing of these Arrangements, the Supreme People's Court and the Hong Kong SAR Government may sign supplementary documents on reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgement on cases listed in Article 3, and assistance issues of preservation and temporary relief under Article 4.

If these Arrangements have problems or need to be modified during the implementation process, it shall be negotiated by the Supreme People's Court and the Hong Kong SAR Government.

Article 29  The date of these Arrangements coming into force will be announced by both parties after the Supreme People's Court issues the judicial interpretation and the Hong Kong SAR completes the relevant procedures.

The judgments made as from the date of these Arrangements coming into force by the courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong SAR shall be subject to these Arrangements.

Article 30  On the date of these Arrangements coming into force, the Arrangements for Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Cases under Agreed Jurisdiction between Courts of Mainland and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be repealed in the meantime.

If, before these Arrangements enter into force, the parties have already signed the "Written Agreement on Jurisdiction" under the Arrangements for Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Cases under Agreed Jurisdiction between Courts of Mainland and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, those arrangements shall still apply.

Article 31  After these Arrangements enter into effect, the Arrangements on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgements in Marriage and Family Civil Cases between Courts of Mainland and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall continue to be valid.

These Arrangements were signed in Beijing on 18 January 2019, in duplicate.