The Hong Kong Court of Appeal has finally laid to rest the vexed issue of whether an arbitration agreement or a winding-up petition should take precedence in an insolvency situation. In two parallel decisions, the Court of...more
A Hong Kong court has granted leave to appeal against a decision in which an arbitral award was sent back to the arbitrator for reconsideration on the basis that the law had changed on a key point relied upon in the...more
In the year of the dragon, attention turns to the enforcement of arbitral awards. We look at five different Hong Kong decisions where enforcement or set aside has been the central issue often involving arguments of public...more
A Hong Kong court has set aside a tribunal’s finding on jurisdiction, holding that the arbitration clause in a loan agreement did not provide the tribunal with the jurisdiction to determine disputes arising out of a related...more
The Singapore High Court has again confirmed that a winding-up application concerning a disputed debt that is subject to an arbitration agreement will be dismissed if the arbitration agreement is prima facie valid and covers...more
One misplaced letter in an email address caused the Hong Kong High Court to refuse leave to enforce an arbitral award on the basis that the respondent not been validly served with the Notice of Arbitration. This was despite...more
Three recent Hong Kong first instance court decisions have left undecided the question of whether a winding-up petition will trump an agreement to arbitrate when it comes to a winding-up and particularly in the context of...more
The Hong Kong court has ruled that a tribunal had no jurisdiction over a third party that had been joined as an additional party to an HKIAC arbitration. The court in R v A [2023] HKCFI 2034 ordered that a summons issued by...more
In C v D [2023] HKCFA 16, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal confirmed that compliance with pre-arbitration conditions in an escalation clause is a matter of admissibility, rather than a jurisdictional issue, and is not...more
A Hong Kong court has set aside an HKIAC Final Award finding that the arbitrator's conduct was so "seriously flawed" and "egregious" that there had been a serious denial of due process....more
Parties to an arbitration only need to be given a "reasonable" opportunity to present their case and to address the cases of their opponents under the Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance. So ruled the Honourable Justice Mimmie...more
Two recent English and Hong Kong court decisions have given confidence to lenders that they should be able to enforce their rights against creditors under so-called asymmetric or hybrid dispute resolution clauses....more
As the world welcomes in the Year of the Rabbit, we look back at seven decisions that made an impact over the past year.
In the decisions, the Hong Kong courts considered the circumstances in which interim relief should...more
The Hong Kong court has dismissed an application seeking to restrain a party to an arbitration from publishing information relating to arbitrations commenced in relation to an unspecified product. In A v B [2022] HKCFI 3620,...more
A wide-ranging mechanism allowing for reciprocal enforcement of judgments in mainland China and Hong Kong has come one stage closer with the gazetting on 4 November 2022 of the Mainland Judgments in Civil and Commercial...more
The Hong Kong Court of Appeal has confirmed that arguments over "escalation clauses" – multi tiered dispute resolution provisions which require negotiation or mediation before formal proceedings can be commenced – should be...more
In Lin Chin Hsiung v Lin Hsiu Fen [2022] HKCFI 1270, the Honourable Madam Justice Mimmie Chan dismissed the respondent's application to set aside an enforcement order to enforce an arbitral award issued by the Shanghai...more
Student loan debt is a complex issue for both employees and employers. Employees must live with the overwhelming burden of paying off the loan in addition to paying personal expenses. However, employers who offer valuable...more
A Hong Kong court has dismissed an application to set aside leave to enforce an arbitral award issued by the American Arbitration Association in Los Angeles. The court said it was impossible to find on the available evidence...more
Whilst on the face of it a recent Hong Kong court decision was about copyright ownership in an online game, the decision in Emagist Entertainment Ltd v Nether Games (Hong Kong) Ltd [2022] HKCFI 899 raises a host of other...more
The Hong Kong Government has published a new bill, which when enacted, will allow a flexible regime for outcome-related fees in arbitration. This legislation, compliments the existing regime for third party funding,...more
The Hong Kong Court of Appeal has refused to stay to arbitration a court action brought on a dishonoured cheque because of an arbitration clause in the underlying loan agreement between the parties. The court noted there...more
The Hong Kong Court of First Instance has set aside an arbitral award ruling that the award was beyond the scope of what the parties pleaded in the arbitration. The court clarified that the courts will not hesitate to set...more
In T v B (Arbitration) [2022] 1 HKLRD 279 the Hong Kong court confirmed that an arbitral tribunal is the "master of its own procedural rules", and that compliance with preconditions to arbitration goes to admissibility, not...more
As the world welcomes in the Year of the Tiger, we look back at seven recent decisions that made an impact in the past year. In the decisions, the Hong Kong courts grappled with issues such as when winding-up petitions can be...more