Surrounded by some unfriendly neighbors and constrained by scarce natural resources, Singapore must maintain its super-competitive edge or else it will cease to exist. Against this background, the government and legal practitioners in the city-state face no task more challenging than the need to maintain Singapore’s status as an international legal hub. In recent years, the “Lawyers Go Global” program, launched jointly by the Ministry of Law, the Law Society of Singapore, and Enterprise Singapore, merits our attention. Not to be outdone, the Department of Justice of Hong Kong (DOJ) has launched an Enrichment Program under Vision 2030 for Rule of Law (Vision 2030) to provide training and organize capacity-building and professional exchange activities for legal practitioners in Hong Kong.
The ambitious Lawyers Go Global program aims at connecting Singapore legal expertise with global opportunities through overseas mission trips, training, and branding and marketing. The Law Society of Singapore is responsible for organizing training to equip Singapore lawyers with the skills and know-how to seize global opportunities. These will include workshops on (a) the legal regime, business norms and economic opportunities of specific countries that the lawyers are interested in; (b) networking skills for lawyers; and (c) branding strategies for law firms in overseas markets.
Though Singapore law firms are very eager to expand their footprints in China, they are unable to compete with their counterparts in Hong Kong to provide legal services in China in general and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in particular. Before Vision 2030 was formally launched in late 2020, the DOJ and the High People’s Court of Guangdong Province agreed to encourage and facilitate courts in Guangdong and relevant legal bodies in Hong Kong to launch projects on legal aspects for mutual exchange and collaboration.
If we expand our lens to place Hong Kong’s unique advantages under the principle of “one country, two systems” into proper perspective, we are absolutely confident that Hong Kong will be able to maintain its status as a center for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region
The DOJ participated in various seminars relating to Chinese laws and the rule of law. For example, Hong Kong’s lawyers participated in the China Forum on International Legal Cooperation, organized by the China Law Society, on Nov 13, 2020. The DOJ also participated in the first Greater Bay Area judicial case seminar organized by the High People’s Court of Guangdong on Jan 6, 2020. Bringing together legal practitioners from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, the seminar deserved credit for promoting better understanding of the legal and justice systems of the three places.
The integration between legal practitioners in Hong Kong and other cities of the GBA has sailed into strong tailwinds since the implementation of the GBA Legal Professional Examination in October 2020. The first examination took place last year. Being an epoch-making event, the examination is vital to opening up the legal market in the nine mainland municipalities in the GBA and merging with developments of the motherland. The dual qualification of Hong Kong’s lawyers will put them in a most advantageous position to serve businesses in the GBA.
According to the 2021 International Arbitration Survey released by Queen Mary University of London, Hong Kong was ranked the third-most preferred seat for arbitration worldwide. Maintaining our status as an arbitration hub has raised fresh concern over the need to train more dispute-resolution practitioners in the city. Another compelling argument for training more dispute-resolution practitioners is the vast business opportunities offered by the Belt and Road Initiative. In response to these opportunities, the DOJ has set up a task force to study the establishment of a BRI Dispute Resolution Center in Hong Kong, providing negotiation, mediation and arbitration services for the resolution of various types of disputes under the BRI.
It is worth highlighting the Investment Law and Investor-State Mediator Training co-organized by the DOJ, the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes and the Asian Academy of International Law (AAIL) — the first Investor-State mediator training in Asia. The second training course was held in Hong Kong from Oct 28 to Nov 3, 2019. The DOJ will continue to co-organize such training courses so as to enhance Hong Kong’s position as an international legal and financial center.
As an international trade center, Hong Kong needs a lot of legal practitioners who are familiar with international trade law and international trade organizations. If Hong Kong can train more legal specialists in international trade disputes, they will be well-positioned to help Chinese mainland firms handle international trade disputes. At present, there are fewer than 600 mainland lawyers who could independently handle most common trade disputes, and fewer than 300 who could handle trade disputes in the World Trade Organization.
Making a first step in the right direction, the DOJ is in discussion with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law on the secondment arrangements for local young legal professionals. The DOJ is also eager to invite some junior barristers to participate in the legal study on the proposed application of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sales of Goods (CISG) to Hong Kong and to assist in preparation of the relevant public consultation paper. A webinar titled “Hong Kong Business and the CISG: The ‘Must Knows’ from International Court Practice” was co-organized by the DOJ and AAIL on Oct 30, 2020.
The DOJ also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Hague Conference on Private International Law on Dec 22, 2020, for the technical and administrative arrangements relating to the secondment of Hong Kong’s legal professionals in both the public and private sectors. An online information session on the secondment program was held on Feb 8, 2021. Besides widening our lawyers’ exposure to international trade law, these secondment programs will enhance Hong Kong’s status as an international law capacity building center.
Finally, the DOJ has introduced the Young Professional Overseas Enrichment Program to sponsor young professionals and dispute-resolution practitioners to participate in overseas international conferences related to law, mediation or arbitration, encouraging and supporting them to exchange and share experiences with professionals from other jurisdictions.
If we expand our lens to place Hong Kong’s unique advantages under the principle of “one country, two systems” into proper perspective, we are absolutely confident that Hong Kong will be able to maintain its status as a center for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region. The DOJ’s Enrichment Program under Vision 2030 has placed invaluable instruments in the toolkit of the legal sector.
Junius Ho Kwan-yiu is a Legislative Council member and a solicitor.
Kacee Ting Wong is a barrister, part-time researcher of Shenzhen University Hong Kong and Macao Basic Law Research Center, and co-founder of Together We Can and the Hong Kong Coalition.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.