The Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Supreme People’s Court today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on establishing a standing interface platform on judicial and legal co-operation in the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
 
The MOU was signed by Deputy Secretary for Justice Cheung Kwok-kwan and Supreme People’s Court Research Office Director General Zhou Jiahai in Beijing.
 
The standing interface platform serves as a regular and institutionalised high-level official communication mechanism for deepening exchanges and co-operation, and taking forward the work on the interfaces of mechanisms, regulatory frameworks and talent.
 
Before the MOU was signed, Supreme People’s Court Executive Vice-President Deng Xiuming met Mr Cheung and his delegation.
 
The establishment of the interface platform is one of the policy initiatives in The Chief Executive’s 2023 Policy Address.
 
It is also an important measure in the DoJ’s Action Plan on the Construction of Rule of Law in the Greater Bay Area for strengthening the interface of the communication mechanism between the Mainland and Hong Kong.
 
The two sides reached an agreement on various fronts to enhance the advantages of the GBA development, including the establishment of a standing interface mechanism to deepen the judicial and legal interface of regulatory frameworks in the GBA, thereby enhancing the cross-boundary multifaceted dispute resolution mechanism.
 
They also agreed to strengthen exchanges and co-operation in the training of foreign-related legal talent, and conduct regular exchanges and visits of relevant officers.
 
Under the interface platform’s framework, both sides will convene high-level joint meetings at least once a year to set the next stage’s work priorities, jointly prepare the work plans and programmes, and notify each other on a regular basis.
 
Mr Cheung said that the standing interface platform would enable the two sides to advance closer and smoother practical and research work on judicial and legal matters relating to the bay area, and better utilise the unique advantages of GBA’s “one country, two systems and three jurisdictions”.
 
The ultimate purpose of the interface platform is to consolidate Hong Kong’s status as a centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region, serving the country’s high-quality development as well as the construction of the rule of law in the GBA, he added.