The Extraterritorial Service of Judicial Documents from Hong Kong

Abstract

The return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty brings new development opportunities to the newly established Special Administrative Region (SAR) and, at the same time, poses many challenges. A legal vacuum currently exists in the service of judicial documents in civil and commercial matters and this has disrupted service arrangements between the mainland and Hong Kong since 1988. Indeed, this problem and other related issues have been studied by scholars, government officials, and practitioners for a number of years. However, thus far no formal arrangements have been made to resolve the matter although Art 95 of the Basic Law does allow Hong Kong and the judicial organs of other parts of the country, through consultation and in accordance with the law, to maintain judicial relations and to render mutual assistance. Following the recent discussions on judicial assistance between the Central Government and the Hong Kong SAR, this article examines the legal issues involved, and proposes some practical solutions to this uncertainty between the two sides, as well as between Hong Kong and other jurisdictions. The first section presents an introduction to the issues, the next discusses the current legal scheme and the conflicts therein; the following section addresses some suggestions advanced by scholars and practitioners. The remaining sections identify certain principles on which future solutions should be based, present proposals to resolve some current problems, and make some concluding remarks.