Cross-border Commercial Disputes

Cross-border disputes rarely move in a straight line, and the right forum and strategy have to be chosen early. We support clients across the whole life of a dispute:

• Strategy and risk assessment: the merits, the applicable law, and where a claim can and should be brought or defended.
• Pre-action and negotiation: without prejudice correspondence, letters before action, and settlement before costs escalate.
• Interim protection: securing assets or evidence quickly, in Hong Kong and, where available, on the Mainland.
• Proceedings: running litigation in the Hong Kong courts or institutional arbitration, as counsel of record.
• Enforcement: turning a judgment or award into recovered value, across the jurisdictions where the assets sit.

Most substantial commercial claims are heard in the Court of First Instance, and complex or higher-value matters can be case-managed on the Commercial List. Where a defendant or assets sit outside Hong Kong, we advise on service out of the jurisdiction, and on serving Hong Kong parties with foreign proceedings under the Hague Service Convention. Timing matters: under the Limitation Ordinance (Cap. 347) a claim in simple contract must generally be brought within six years (twelve years for a contract made under seal, and three years for personal injury), so early advice protects your position. We act as counsel of record throughout and coordinate with the client’s advisers in other jurisdictions.

Hong Kong is one of the world’s leading seats of arbitration, and arbitration is often the better route for a cross-border contract because an award is easier to enforce internationally than a court judgment. Arbitration seated in Hong Kong is governed by the Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609), which is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law. Disputes are commonly administered by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), and also under ICC or CIETAC rules. We advise on the arbitration agreement, the choice between institutional and ad hoc arbitration, the seat, the rules and the language, and we act for parties through the proceedings. For a full explanation of how it works, see our guide to arbitration in Hong Kong.

A favourable outcome is worth little if the assets have gone or the evidence has been destroyed. We help clients obtain urgent relief, most often a Mareva (freezing) injunction that stops a defendant moving or dissipating assets before judgment and, where documents or property may be hidden or destroyed, an Anton Piller (search) order. These are powerful but demanding remedies. An application is usually made urgently and without notice to the other side, supported by a detailed affidavit, and the applicant is under a strict duty of full and frank disclosure and must normally give an undertaking in damages. Getting the evidence and the drafting right is what separates an order that holds from one that is later discharged, with costs. For arbitration with a Hong Kong or Mainland connection, the arrangement between Hong Kong and the Mainland on interim measures in aid of arbitration, in force since 1 October 2019, lets parties to HKIAC-administered arbitrations apply to Mainland courts for asset or evidence preservation, a cross-border tool available in very few other places.

A judgment obtained abroad is not automatically effective in Hong Kong. Depending on where it comes from, it is enforced either by registration under the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 319), which applies to judgments from a list of designated jurisdictions, or by starting a fresh common law action on the judgment where the statutory route is not available. We advise on which route applies and carry out the enforcement, and we defend against enforcement where there are proper grounds.

The enforcement of Mainland judgments in Hong Kong changed significantly with the Mainland Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Reciprocal Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap. 645), which took effect on 29 January 2024. It created a far broader reciprocal regime between Hong Kong and the Mainland than the earlier, narrow framework (Cap. 597), covering a wide range of civil and commercial judgments in both directions. We advise creditors and debtors on whether a Mainland judgment qualifies and on the registration process, and on the mirror position for enforcing Hong Kong judgments on the Mainland. See our full guide to enforcing a Mainland judgment in Hong Kong under Cap. 645.

Arbitral awards have the widest cross-border reach of any dispute outcome. A Hong Kong award, or an award made in another New York Convention state, can be enforced in Hong Kong and in over 170 Convention countries, and a separate arrangement provides for the mutual enforcement of arbitral awards between Hong Kong and the Mainland. Enforcement is not automatic, but the losing party can only resist it on the narrow grounds set out in the New York Convention and mirrored in the Arbitration Ordinance, for example that the arbitration agreement was invalid, that a party was not given proper notice, that the award goes beyond the scope of what was submitted, or that enforcement would be contrary to public policy. Because those grounds are deliberately limited, a well-run arbitration usually produces an award that is enforced quickly. We advise award creditors on enforcing here and abroad, and represent parties resisting enforcement where a proper ground genuinely applies.

The cheapest dispute to win is the one your contract already positions you to win. We help clients get the architecture right at the drafting stage: the choice of governing law, an exclusive or non-exclusive jurisdiction clause, or a well-drafted arbitration clause naming the seat, the rules and the language. Each choice has consequences. An exclusive Hong Kong jurisdiction clause gives certainty but can slow you down if the assets are elsewhere. An asymmetric clause, which binds one party to a single forum while leaving the other free to sue where it wishes, is common in finance documents but is treated differently across jurisdictions and needs care. A clause that names the wrong seat, or is silent on the rules, can turn into a costly preliminary fight before the real dispute is even heard. We draft and review these clauses so that, if a dispute ever comes, you are already in the stronger position, and we align them with the wider deal documents in our corporate and M&A work.

A cross-border commercial dispute often touches neighbouring areas. Where your matter is really one of the following, we handle it under the dedicated service: