The firm represents clients in applying for enforcement in Hong Kong of debts arising from court judgements in the Mainland of China and elsewhere, including enforcement through the methods provided for in the bilateral judicial agreements between the Mainland and Hong Kong, as well as through the means of enforcement under Hong Kong common law. The lawyers in our litigation team have extensive experience in representing clients in enforcing judgements in Hong Kong which have been entered into in the Mainland.
So far, the legal framework for the reciprocal enforcement of civil and commercial judgements between the Mainland and Hong Kong includes:
How to comply with the above Arrangements and hence cannot be enforced in accordance with the arrangements of the judicial agreements of the two places, the parties can still apply for the enforcement of Mainland civil and commercial judgements in Hong Kong courts in accordance with the general legal principles for the enforcement of foreign court judgements under the common law of Hong Kong.
(1) For Mainland civil and commercial judgments (instead of matrimonial and family judgments) entered into force after 29 January 2024, priority should be given to applying for enforcement through the Arrangement, as the conditions are lenient and the application is easier to make;
(2) If it is a Mainland judgement on matrimonial and family matters which has entered into force after 15 February 2022, priority should be given to applying for enforcement through the Matrimonial and Family Arrangement because the conditions are lenient and the application is easier to make;
(3) In the case of Mainland judgments which are civil and commercial judgments (instead of matrimonial and family judgments) but do not meet the enforcement conditions of the first bilateral agreement mentioned above, i.e. the Arrangement which came into effect on 29 January 2024, e.g. the effective judgment was made before 29 January 2024, then consideration should be given as to whether the enforcement conditions of the Choice of Court Agreements between Parties Concerned Arrangement, which came into effect on 1 August 2008, have been met, i.e. whether there is any agreement between the parties to the dispute that the courts of either party in the Mainland or Hong Kong shall have exclusive (exclusionary) jurisdiction. If the judgement in force was made after 1 August 2008 and the conditions for exclusive jurisdiction under the Agreement are met, the 2008 Arrangement may be applied for enforcement of the Mainland court judgement in Hong Kong.
(4) If a civil or commercial judgement handed down by a Mainland court does not satisfy the conditions stipulated in the above bilateral arrangement, an application for enforcement of a Mainland civil or commercial judgement in a Hong Kong court may be made in accordance with the general principles of law governing the enforcement of foreign court judgements under the common law of Hong Kong. This method of enforcement has a wide scope of application, but the disadvantages are that it takes a longer time and may incur more legal costs.
Regardless of which method is used to apply for the enforcement of Mainland civil judgements in Hong Kong, the necessary documents include: (1) the original copy of the civil judgement issued by the Mainland court which has finally come into effect; (2) a Certificate of Entry into Force of the Judgement issued by the Mainland court which has handed down the judgement in force; and (3) a legal opinion issued by a Mainland lawyer to certify that the judgement is a final and effective judgement.
(1) The court fee for enforcing a Mainland civil or commercial judgement in Hong Kong is very small, only HK$1,045, which is mainly the solicitor’s fee.
(2) If an application for enforcement of a Mainland judgement in Hong Kong is made through the abovementioned arrangements for mutual legal assistance between Hong Kong and the Mainland, the method of application in the Hong Kong court is ex parte, i.e. there is no need to notify the person against whom the judgement is to be enforced of his/her participation, and it is sufficient for the applicant to make an application to the Hong Kong court unilaterally, which is a simpler method, and the solicitors’ fees are generally in the region of HK$30,000-50,000 will be sufficient.
(3) If the applicant fails to meet the conditions of the abovementioned arrangements for mutual legal assistance between the Mainland and Hong Kong, and is unable to make an application in accordance with any of the arrangements for mutual legal assistance, and is obliged to apply for enforcement in accordance with the principle of enforcing foreign court judgments in accordance with the principles of common law in Hong Kong, the application is not ex parte, but rather, it is an application for recognition and enforcement by way of a lawsuit between the two parties. If the defendant does not come to defend himself, he can usually apply for a default judgement at a cost of about HK$30,000. If the defendant comes to defend the case or other complicated circumstances arise, then the solicitor’s fees are generally charged on an hourly basis, and it is difficult to estimate the total solicitor’s fees accurately.