The 7th Joint Meeting of Legal Departments of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was held in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on the 9th, hosted by the Department of Justice of the HKSAR Government. At the meeting, representatives from the three regions respectively reported on the work progress regarding the 2025 applications for recognition of mediators’ qualifications and credentials in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the update of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Mediators List (2024), and the review of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Arbitrators List. In addition, the three regions conducted in-depth discussions on a number of issues, including formulating arbitration rules for the Greater Bay Area, establishing a mediation and arbitration platform, and strengthening the training of legal talents.
Secretary for Administration and Justice Wong Sio Chak stated that since the establishment of the joint meeting mechanism, the legal departments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have achieved a series of fruitful results in mediation, arbitration and talent training, laying a solid foundation for the coordinated development of the rule of law in the Greater Bay Area. He hoped that the three regions would continue to work together to strive for the release of the 2025 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Mediators List and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Arbitrators List within the year. In terms of talent training, Secretary Wong Sio Chak expected the three regions to further deepen cooperation, optimize the training model for legal personnel, build it into a more influential brand for cultivating the rule of law talents in the Greater Bay Area, and provide solid talent support for promoting the “soft connectivity” of the rule of law in the Greater Bay Area.
The main representatives from the three regions attending the meeting included: Chen Xudong, Director of the Department of Justice of Guangdong Province, and Chen Yongkang, Deputy Director; Cheung Kwok-kwan, Deputy Secretary for Justice of the HKSAR Government, and Dai Sze King, Deputy Solicitor General; Tsang Cheong, Director of the Office of the Secretary for Administration and Justice of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government, and Ng Chi Kin, Acting Director of the Legal Affairs Bureau, among others.
