决策者｜香港：促成交易和解决争端的理想之地

Editor's note: Decision Makers is a global platform for decision makers to share their insights on events shaping today's world. Teresa Cheng, Senior Counsel, is the Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. 

编者按：《决策者》是全球决策制定者分享对国际大事见解的平台。郑若骅资深大律师是香港特区政府律政司司长。本文仅为作者个人观点，不代表CGTN立场。

This year marks an important milestone for our city as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Over the years, Hong Kong has been capitalizing on its unique role in bridging the Chinese mainland and the world, reinforcing the status as an international center for deal-making, legal and dispute resolution services.

今年是香港特别行政区成立25周年，是这座城市发展的重要里程碑。多年来，香港一直发挥其在连接中国内地和世界的独特纽带作用，巩固了其作为国际交易、法律和争端解决服务中心的地位。

Hong Kong's unique position and advantages can undoubtedly be attributed to the strong backing and support of the central government, as evidenced by the steadfast implementation and staunch support of "one country, two systems" and in seminal documents such as the 14th Five-Year Plan, which reiterate the need for Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability to be maintained and explicitly provides for Hong Kong to establish itself as the center for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region. Hong Kong is also well placed to take advantage of national development plans such as the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road Initiative.

香港的独特地位和优势无疑得益于中央政府提供的强大后盾和支持，“一国两制”的坚定执行、以及“十四五”规划等开创性文件对保持香港长期繁荣稳定的一再重申和将香港打造成为亚太地区国际法律和争端解决服务中心提供了明确保障。香港也有条件充分对接国家发展规划，如《粤港澳大湾区发展规划纲要》和“一带一路”倡议。

The continued success of Hong Kong is very much tied to the upholding of the rule of law which is predicated upon our legal system and an independent judiciary. As the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal remarked in his address at the Ceremonial Opening of Legal Year 2022, "Hong Kong is a society governed by the rule of law…The rule of law ensures and promotes fairness, equality and justice, which are the core values in the administration of justice under our system of law."

香港的持续成功与维护法治息息相关，而法治的基础是法律体系和司法独立。正如终审法院首席法官在2022年香港法律年度开启典礼上致辞时所说：“香港是法治社会......法治确保并促进公平、平等和正义，这些是我们法律制度下执行司法工作的核心价值。”

The independence of Hong Kong's judiciary is constitutionally guaranteed by the Basic Law which expressly provides that an independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication, is exercised by the Judiciary, free from any interference. Judges enjoy security of tenure and immunity from legal action in the performance of their judicial functions. The only criteria upon which judges are appointed is their judicial and professional quality. These safeguards ensure that our judges, who took the judicial oath upon their appointments, administer justice without fear or favor, based only on the law and evidence before them.   

香港司法机构的独立性受宪制保障，《基本法》明文规定司法机构行使独立的司法权，包括终审权，不受任何干涉。法官在履行其司法职能时享有任期保障和不受法律追究，任命法官的唯一标准是其司法和专业才能，法官就职时作出司法誓言，这些保障措施确保他们只根据法律和确凿的证据，无畏无惧、不偏不倚地履行司法职能。

Since our return to the motherland, Hong Kong's rule of law has been recognized globally in the Worldwide Governance Indicators project of the World Bank. According to the project, Hong Kong's percentile ranking in respect of the rule of law was 69.85 in 1996. With the full implementation of "one country, two systems" and safeguards provided for by the Basic Law, Hong Kong reached 74.75 in 2000, and has been making significant improvement by consistently ranking above 90 since 2003.

自从回归祖国以来，香港的法治在世界银行的全球治理指标中得到了全球认可。根据该项目的数据，1996年香港的法治指标为69.85。随着“一国两制”的全面落实和《基本法》的保障，2000年香港的法治指标达到74.75，并从2003年起法治指标一直保持在90以上，取得了重大进步。

Last year, Queen Mary University of London released the 2021 International Arbitration Survey, where Hong Kong was ranked the third most preferred seat for arbitration worldwide, surpassing Paris, reaffirming that Hong Kong as a seat of arbitration is a safe and obvious choice of established quality for dispute resolution.

去年，伦敦大学玛丽皇后学院发布了《2021年国际仲裁调查报告》，香港超过巴黎成为全球最受欢迎仲裁地的第三位，再次证明香港是安全、高质量的仲裁地，是解决争端的理想场所。

The Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) held its annual session in Hong Kong last November and announced the establishment of the AALCO Hong Kong Regional Arbitration Centre, demonstrating the trust of the central government and AALCO's confidence in Hong Kong's arbitral service. The AALCO Hong Kong Regional Arbitration Centre is conducive to the promotion and development of alternative dispute resolution (such as online dispute resolution) services in Hong Kong and, in particular, in Asian and African countries, reinforcing our role as an international legal and dispute resolution center.

亚洲—非洲法律协商组织（亚非法协）去年11月在香港召开年会，宣布成立亚非法协香港区域仲裁中心，这体现了中央政府对香港的信任和亚非法协对香港仲裁服务的信心。亚非法协香港区域仲裁中心有利于促进和发展香港和亚非国家的替代性争端解决（如网上争端解决）服务，巩固香港作为国际法律和争端解决中心的地位。

With the increase in cross-border activities and the advent of technologies that significantly change the business, legal, and dispute resolution landscape, we all are facing ever-changing challenges in this age of globalization and must innovate, adapt, and constantly improve, focusing on our unique advantages. One way we have achieved this is by riding on "one country, two systems" and establishing one-of-a-kind arrangements with the mainland that no other jurisdiction in the world has been able to.

随着跨境活动的增加，以及改变商业、法律和解决争端的新技术的不断涌现，我们在全球化时代下面临着不断变化的挑战，因此必须加强创新、提升适应能力、不断改进，并专注于我们的独特优势。我们实现这一目标的方法之一是借助“一国两制”的制度优势，与内地建立世界上其他司法管辖区无法达成的独一无二的司法安排。

Since July 1997, we have signed nine arrangements on mutual legal assistance in civil and commercial matters with the mainland, which allow us to foster and promote Hong Kong as a legal gateway into China and the ideal choice for the resolution of mainland-related disputes. 

自1997年7月以来，我们已与内地签署了九项民商事司法互助安排，使我们能够培育和抬升香港作为涉华法律门户的地位，成为各方解决与内地有关纠纷的理想选择。 

These arrangements provide distinct benefits. For example, in arbitration, under the interim measures arrangement and the supplemental arrangement on the enforcement of arbitral awards we have concluded with the mainland, parties to Hong Kong arbitrations can seek protection measures from the mainland courts such as the freezing of assets and injunction during the arbitration, and at the start of the court proceedings for recognition and enforcement of the Hong Kong awards. This is unique to Hong Kong.

这些安排产生了明显的积极影响。例如，在仲裁方面，根据我们与内地达成的保全措施安排和关于执行仲裁裁决的补充安排，香港仲裁当事人可以在仲裁期间，以及在承认和执行香港裁决的法院程序开始时，向内地法院寻求资产冻结、强制执行等保护措施。这是香港与内地达成的独特安排。

Another example is Hong Kong's arrangement with the mainland on the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial judgments, allowing Hong Kong court judgments to be enforceable in the mainland. This arrangement goes beyond what has been negotiated internationally by the Hague Judgments Convention by providing for the mutual enforcement of certain intellectual property judgments.  It will also greatly reduce the need to re-litigate the disputes in the enforcing jurisdiction and avoid the complicated litigation procedures in the other jurisdiction for the judgment creditor to recover his or her judgment debt.

另一个例子是内地和香港就相互认可和执行民商事司法判决达成的安排，允许香港法院的判决在内地执行。这项安排比《海牙判决公约》的适用范围更广阔，规定了某些知识产权判决可在香港和内地相互执行。这也将大大减少在司法执行地重新提起诉讼的需要，避免债权人在其他司法管辖区为追讨其债务而卷入复杂的诉讼程序。

Additionally, in 2021, the HKSAR government signed a record of meeting concerning the mutual recognition of and assistance to insolvency proceedings with the Supreme People's Court, establishing a new co-operation mechanism in which liquidators and provisional liquidators from Hong Kong may apply to specific courts in the mainland for recognition and assistance. Similarly, bankruptcy administrators from the mainland may continue to apply to our High Court for recognition and assistance according to the existing common law principles in Hong Kong. It provides creditors with a mechanism between the two jurisdictions by which debts could be recovered. This will further improve the business environment and thereby attract more business investing into the mainland market through Hong Kong. Hong Kong is the only jurisdiction to enjoy such a unique co-operation mechanism with the mainland in this area. 

此外，2021年香港特区政府与最高人民法院签署了《关于内地与香港特别行政区法院相互认可和协助破产程序的会谈纪要》，建立了全新的合作机制，香港破产程序的清盘人和临时清盘人可以向内地试点地区的法院申请认可和协助。同样，内地破产程序的管理人也可以继续根据香港现行的普通法原则向香港特区高等法院申请认可和协助。这为债权人提供了一个在两个司法管辖区之间追讨债务的机制。这将进一步改善营商环境，从而吸引更多企业通过香港投资内地市场。香港是唯一一个与内地在这方面享有这种独特合作机制的司法管辖区。 

We are keen on developing Hong Kong as a hub for international legal, dispute resolution, and deal-making services. Not only does Hong Kong have an open and transparent market providing for a level playing field that encourages fair completion, Hong Kong also has a wealth of talent with expertise which facilitates this, with around 12,500 solicitors and barristers and more than 1,500 registered foreign lawyers from 33 different jurisdictions. Furthermore, some of our Hong Kong lawyers have been qualified to practice in certain aspects of laws of People's Republic of China in the GBA area. Lawyers in Hong Kong are multi-lingual and well-equipped in handling cross-border transactions and providing bespoke legal services for both Chinese and overseas businesses.

我们致力于将香港打造成为国际法律、争端解决和促成交易服务的中心。香港不仅拥有开放透明的市场、鼓励公平竞争的良好环境，还拥有丰富的专业人才。这些人才来自33个不同的司法管辖区，包括约12500名律师和大律师以及1500多名注册外地律师。此外，一些香港律师已经获得了粤港澳大湾区执业资格，可以办理部分法律服务。香港律师精通多国语言，素质优秀，能够处理跨境交易业务，并为中国和海外企业提供定制化的法律服务。

As one of the most competitive economies in the world, it is no wonder that in the latest World Competitiveness Yearbook 2022 published by the International Institute for Management Development, Hong Kong was ranked fifth globally, up two places from last year. Among the four competitiveness factors in the Yearbook, Hong Kong continued to rank favourably in "Government efficiency" and "Business efficiency," and has improved rankings in "Economic performance" and "Infrastructure." Hong Kong continues to top the rankings in the "Business legislation" sub-factor and was amongst the top three in "Public finance," "Tax policy," and "International investment" sub-factors.

香港是全球最具竞争力的经济体之一。在瑞士洛桑国际管理学院（IMD）发布的《2022年全球竞争力年鉴》中，香港位列全球第五，较去年上升两位。在《年鉴》所列的四个竞争力因素中，香港在“政府效率”和“商业效率”方面继续排名靠前，在“经济表现”和“基础设施”方面的排名也有所提高。香港在“商业立法”的分项排名中继续位居榜首，在“公共财政”、“税收政策”和“国际投资”等分项中位列前三。

Hong Kong's international connectivity is well protected under the Basic Law. There are freedom of communication, freedom to travel, free flow of capital and free movements of goods. Furthermore, with the authorization of the central government, Hong Kong has concluded and implemented international agreements with foreign jurisdictions in the areas of investment promotion and protection, free trade, tax, air services, etc.  

香港的国际交流联系受到《基本法》的充分保护，享有通讯自由、出入境自由、资金和货物流动自由。此外，在中央政府的授权下，香港与外国司法管辖区在投资促进与保护、自由贸易、税收、航空服务等领域签订并实施了一系列国际协议。

As the only jurisdiction in the world that has a truly bilingual common law system and being the sole common law jurisdiction in China, we should leverage on these advantages and our proximity as well as exclusive arrangements with the mainland to further enhance our position as an international hub for business, investment, deal-making, and legal and dispute resolution services.

作为世界上唯一拥有真正双语普通法体系的司法管辖区，也作为中国唯一的普通法司法管辖区，香港应该利用这些优势，凭借自身与内地距离近以及与内地独特的司法安排，进一步加强我们在商业、投资、交易以及法律和争端解决服务领域的国际枢纽地位。

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