Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC)

Legal support for dispute resolution in the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC)

The development and growth of trade relations with Asian countries has also increased the number of foreign partners with eastern participants in foreign trade activities. Due to the need to resolve emerging disputes, there was a need for their fair settlement.

In 1985, due to the need to meet the growing demand for dispute resolution services in Asia, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (hereinafter referred to as the “HKIAC”, “Hong Kong Arbitration”, “Hong Kong Arbitration Centre”) was established.

HKIAC is an independent non-profit organization established in accordance with the laws of Hong Kong.

HKIAC’ Competence

HKIAC specialises in:

1. arbitration, which is a dispute resolution process based on the parties’ agreement to submit their disputes to an arbitral tribunal, usually consisting of one to three independent arbitrators appointed by or on behalf of the parties;
2. mediation, which is a confidential, voluntary and private dispute resolution process in which a neutral person (the mediator) helps the parties reach a negotiated settlement;
3. adjudication, which is a simple, effective and speedy method of resolving disputes, with the proceedings conducted by a single judge in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract and applicable law;
4. domain name dispute resolution, which is the provision of a comprehensive online dispute resolution service for domain name disputes arising in connection with generic top-level domains (gTLDs), new gTLDs and country code top-level domains (ccTLDs).

To initially establish HKIAC, the Hong Kong government and business community provided funding for the company. However, today, HKIAC is financially self-sufficient, free and independent of any influence or control.

In response to the growth of cases handled by HKIAC, the Seoul Office was established in 2013 to strengthen its commitment to Korean users and support the development of international dispute resolution services in Korea. In 2015, HKIAC also opened a representative office in Mainland China

Procedure for Cases in Hong Kong Arbitration

As a general rule, to arbitrate a case before HKIAC, the party initiating arbitration (the “claimant”) must file a Notice of Arbitration with HKIAC and the other party (the “respondent”). Within 30 days from the receipt of the Notice of Arbitration, the Respondent must file a Reply to the Notice of Arbitration with the Hong Kong Arbitration Centre and the claimant. However, if the statement of claim is not contained in the notice of arbitration (or the claimant has not elected to treat the notice of arbitration as a statement of claim), the claimant must serve its statement of claim on all other parties and on the arbitral tribunal within such time as the arbitral tribunal will determine.

In doing so, a statement of claim in Hong Kong arbitration must contain the following information:

1. statement of the facts supporting the claim;
2. issues in dispute;
3. legal arguments in support of the claim;
4. relief or remedy sought.

Unless the Statement of Defence was contained in the Response to the Notice of Arbitration (or the respondent elects to treat the Response to the Notice of Arbitration as a Statement of Defence), the respondent shall serve its Statement of Defence on all other parties and the arbitral tribunal within such time as the arbitral tribunal shall determine. Where a counterclaim, set-off or cross-claim is filed, the Statement of Defence shall also include the following information:

1. a statement of the facts supporting the counterclaim, set-off or cross-claim;
2. the points in dispute;
3. the legal arguments in support of the counterclaim, set-off or cross-claim;
4. the relief or remedy sought.

It is important to note that an updated set of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre Administered Arbitration Rules, which were adopted by the Council of the HKIAC, came into effect on 1 June 2024. The 2024 Rules have been supplemented with a number of provisions that were not reflected in the 2018 Rules, such as:

1. Article 9A “Diversity”, which requires HKIAC to seek diversity in the appointment of arbitrators;
2. Article 45A “Information Security”, which allows the parties to agree on any reasonable measures to protect information in connection with the arbitration and allows the tribunal, after consultation with the parties, to give directions to the parties to protect the security of the information and to make orders, decisions or awards in respect of any breach of the information security measures;
3. the need to take into account the environmental impacts associated with the carbon footprint, which may further encourage the use of online or hybrid hearings. In addition, arbitrators may seek to reduce the use of paper media, such as printed case files for hearings, etc. Given that the HKIAC handles cases other than arbitration, it is also important to note that other types of cases are governed by the Hong Kong Arbitration Code, such as the Hong Kong Mediation Code, which requires a mediator to act fairly in their dealings with the parties to the mediation, have no personal interest in the terms of any settlement agreement, be free from bias towards the parties, be reasonably available at the request of the parties, and ensure that the parties are informed of the mediation process. However, with regard to domain name disputes, we note that such cases are usually completed within 60 days with fixed fees. Domain name dispute fees vary depending on the policy under which the complaint is filed, the number of domain names in dispute, and the number of experts required to resolve the dispute. Fees are always fixed from the start of the case. The HKIAC Domain Name Dispute Resolution Panel is composed of panelists with at least three years of experience in resolving domain name disputes or relevant experience as an arbitrator, referee and/or other relevant judicial functions. All decisions made by panelists in HKIAC proceedings since 2002 are available to users.

Given the diversity of cases heard by HKIAC and the multiplicity of regulations governing the resolution of a particular dispute, as a rule, traders engage qualified specialists to resolve disputes at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre who not only have the language skills to participate in the process, but also the experience and knowledge necessary to represent their interests at the HKIAC.

Legal services

1. Consulting on dispute resolution at the Hong Kong Arbitration Centre
2. Document preparation and case support at the HKIAC
3. Representation of interests of traders at the HKIAC
4. Support for the enforcement of decisions of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre