Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan delivers a welcoming speech at the sixth Shanghai-Hong Kong Commercial Mediation Forum under the 2023 Hong Kong Legal Week, Nov 8. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

The Department of Justice aims to turn Hong Kong into an international investment law and international investment dispute resolution skills training base, with a team of investment mediators for Asia to handle international investment disputes, Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan, the city’s deputy secretary for Justice told a forum on the third day of the 2023 Hong Kong Legal Week.

During the Wednesday event, Cheung said that in accordance with the plans set out in the 2023 Policy Address, the DoJ will set up a dedicated office to take forward the establishment of a Legal Talents Training Academy to train legal professionals who are familiar with international law and the nation’s legal systems.

Cheung said that the DoJ will continue to organize the fourth Investment Law and Investor-State Mediator Training Courses, which have been held since 2018 to motivate Chinese mainland investors to make use of Hong Kong's mediation services to resolve cross-border investment disputes

Hong Kong will strive to become a center for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region. The review of the relevant accreditation system and regulatory regime on mediation services will be completed next year to further professionalize the industry, he said.

In addition, Cheung said that the DoJ will continue to organize the fourth Investment Law and Investor-State Mediator Training Courses, which have been held since 2018 to motivate Chinese mainland investors to make use of Hong Kong's mediation services to resolve cross-border investment disputes.

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Cheung emphasized Hong Kong's distinctive advantages in enjoying the strong support of the nation and being closely connected to the world. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the only common law jurisdiction within the country.

The city's common law system follows the same legal tradition as the world's major economies, and has a large pool of multilingual legal professionals with rich global experience. Hong Kong will make good use of its unique advantages and play a greater role in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.

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The Department of Justice plans to organize “Mediate First” Pledge events in the cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area next year, so as to further promote to Asia and the world the concept of mediation and the advantages of using mediation services in Hong Kong. The biannual Mediation Week & Mediation Conference in May next year will also further enhance the public's understanding of mediation, Cheung said.