Hong Kong court stays proceedings for arbitration, honouring arbitration agreement in insurance policy

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance stays third party proceedings commenced by an insured against an insurer, on the basis that the parties are bound by the arbitration clause contained in the insurance policy. Despite the outcome being that the main action and the third party proceedings will ultimately be pursued in different forums, by upholding the parties’ contractual agreement to arbitrate, the Court reinforces its pro-arbitration credentials and the principle of party autonomy.

Read more

Hong Kong court stays proceedings for arbitration, honouring arbitration agreement in insurance policy

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance stays third party proceedings commenced by an insured against an insurer, on the basis that the parties are bound by the arbitration clause contained in the insurance policy. Despite the outcome being that the main action and the third party proceedings will ultimately be pursued in different forums, by upholding the parties’ contractual agreement to arbitrate, the Court reinforces its pro-arbitration credentials and the principle of party autonomy.

Read more

Hong Kong court stays proceedings for arbitration, honouring arbitration agreement in insurance policy

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance stays third party proceedings commenced by an insured against an insurer, on the basis that the parties are bound by the arbitration clause contained in the insurance policy. Despite the outcome being that the main action and the third party proceedings will ultimately be pursued in different forums, by upholding the parties’ contractual agreement to arbitrate, the Court reinforces its pro-arbitration credentials and the principle of party autonomy.

Read more

Letter: Hong Kong’s role as a hub for arbitration is growing

The article “Businesses look at cutting Hong Kong from contracts over fears for rule of law” (Report, February 1) unfortunately illustrates an incomplete picture of Hong Kong. Notwithstanding the violence in 2019, statistics from one of the arbitral institutions in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), show that the number of arbitration cases handled in Hong Kong last year actually increased, with 318 new cases, the highest number since 2009.

The article “Businesses look at cutting Hong Kong from contracts over fears for rule of law” (Report, February 1) unfortunately illustrates an incomplete picture of Hong Kong. Notwithstanding the violence in 2019, statistics from one of the arbitral institutions in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), show that the number of arbitration cases handled in Hong Kong last year actually increased, with 318 new cases, the highest number since 2009.

Read more

HK remains a leading hub for international arbitration, says Justice Secretary

Hong Kong's Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah said Hong Kong will continue to serve as an international legal hub for deal-making and dispute resolution services, and to clarify misconceptions and misunderstanding through concerted efforts in promotion and explanation.

Writing on her official blog, Cheng said today that Hong Kong excels as a leading arbitration center, with the arbitral service well known for its flexibility, and the enforceability of awards in over 160 jurisdictions.

Read more

Hong Kong Mainland Cooperation in Arbitration Matters

The advantages enjoyed by Hong Kong as a center for arbitration of commercial disputes involving parties in Mainland China have been further enhanced by new measures to strengthen the cross-border recognition and enforcement of such awards. On November 27, 2020, the Supreme People’s Court of China and the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the “HKSAR”) signed a Supplemental Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between the Mainland and the HKSAR (the “Supplemental Arrangement”).

Read more

The relationship between cheques (and other bills of exchange) and arbitration clauses

In T v W (HCA 366/2020, [2020] HKCFI 2918), the Hong Kong Court of First Instance considered the interesting question of whether a claim made on a dishonoured cheque was caught by and fell within the application of an arbitration clause in the underlying loan agreement in respect of which the cheque was issued.

Read more

Arbitrating Intellectual Property Disputes: Lessons from Hong Kong and Singapore

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is growing in popularity as a method of resolving intellectual property (IP) disputes across the globe. This is evident from the rising number of cases handled by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre over the past few years, from 136 cases in 2017, to 155 in 2018, to 178 in 2019.[1] Outside of arbitration and mediation, domain name dispute resolution (DNDR) administrative processes are quickly becoming a preferred method to deal with trademark disputes involving online domain names, with 3,074 cases filed with WIPO in 2017, 3,452 in 2018 and 3,693 in 2019.[2]

Read more