The five-day Hong Kong Legal Week 2022 opened today to showcase the city as an international legal and dispute resolution services centre.

The participants include three prominent international legal organisations, namely the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), as well as ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states, chambers of commerce, legal and other sectors.

During the seven conferences and seminars at the event, participants attending onsite or online will discuss a wide range of topics, from facilitating access to justice through international instruments, arbitration, online dispute resolution to transnational litigation in civil and commercial matters and lawtech.

This morning, the event started with the Asia-Pacific Private International Law Summit where representatives of UNIDROIT, HCCH and UNCITRAL and other distinguished guest speakers discussed a wide range of topics such as international instruments supporting asset-based financing, digital assets and private law.

The summit was the first event co-organised by the Department of Justice (DoJ) and UNIDROIT under the memorandum of understanding signed earlier this year.

Addressing the opening of Legal Week, Chief Executive John Lee said that Legal Week is the starting point to show the international community two important aspects of Hong Kong's legal system, which are the advantages of Hong Kong's rule of law as well as its diversified legal and dispute resolution services under the common law system.

The participation of speakers and guests from renowned international organisations and leading international experts during Hong Kong Legal Week signified their vote of confidence in Hong Kong, the city's rule of law and its strengths under the principle of “one country, two systems”, he said.

He also took the opportunity to share the news that with the strong support of the country, the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed) Preparatory Office will be established in Hong Kong for the preparatory work to establish IOMed which will provide friendly, flexible, economical and efficient mediation services for international disputes.

Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Liu Guangyuan and Secretary-General of UNIDROIT Prof Ignacio Tirado also gave their welcoming speeches.

To conclude the first day event, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam highlighted Hong Kong's close ties and co-operation with the Mainland, and strong connection with renowned international organisations.

He noted that the summit is particularly momentous as it had brought together in one arena the “three sister” organisations of private international law - UNIDROIT, HCCH and UNCITRAL - all of which the DoJ has been working very closely with in recent years, with support from the central government.

He said he hoped that the close synergy between Hong Kong and prominent law-related international organisations would create more opportunities and better prospects for the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.