Hong Kong Launches Legal Week 2025 at 6th UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Judicial Summit

Speech by SJ at 6th UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Judicial Summit 2025 - Judicial Conference (with photo/video)

Following are the welcome remarks by the Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, at the 6th UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Judicial Summit 2025 - Judicial Conference under Hong Kong Legal Week 2025 today (December 1):

The Honourable Chief Justice Mr Andrew Cheung (Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal), Ms Anna Joubin-Bret (Secretary of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), Professor Teresa Cheng (Secretary-General of International Organization for Mediation), Mr Tian Ya (Deputy Director-General of the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China), your excellencies, Consuls General, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

As we gather today for the 6th UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Judicial Summit, we also kick-start the Hong Kong Legal Week 2025.

The Hong Kong Legal Week is an annual major event of the Department of Justice which serves as a dynamic platform for the legal and dispute resolution sector, legal scholars, judges and experts to discuss key topical legal issues in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

Under the theme of "Linking Laws, Bridging Worlds", Hong Kong Legal Week 2025 aims at highlighting Hong Kong's role in connecting different economies and legal systems through collaboration, understanding and global legal exchange. Under the fundamental principle of "one country, two systems", Hong Kong is the only common law jurisdiction in China. With our strong legal foundation and international connectivity, Hong Kong is dedicated to serve as a super connector and capacity building hub, in order to facilitate the legal and economic collaboration across the region and beyond.

The 6th UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Judicial Summit is co-oragnised by UNCITRAL and the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy of the Department of Justice, under the theme "The Future is Now: Legally Enabling Digitalization of International Trade". Today, we have more than 50 judges from over 25 jurisdictions attending in person, with numerous other jurisdictions joining virtually, including those from ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), Central Asia, and Pacific Islands, reflecting the global reach and importance of the Summit. To facilitate the participation of Russian-speaking judges from Central Asia, we are grateful for the support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) of providing simultaneous interpretation from English into Russian.

In fact, it is not the first time we work with the ADB and UNCITRAL on capacity building. This Judicial Summit actually marks the third event that we have co-organised with UNCITRAL this year. Since the Department of Justice launched the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy during the Hong Kong Legal Week last year, the Academy and UNCITRAL have co-organised capacity building programmes including the Conference on Climate Change and International Trade Law this March in Hong Kong and the Workshop on Use of International Instruments to Legally Enable End-to-End Digitalization of Trade under the Economic Committee of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) in Incheon, Korea, in August this year. These collaborations have not only contributed to capacity building for stakeholders in the region but also the further development of international trade law.

In addition to co-organising events with UNCITRAL, we worked with UNCITRAL to set up the Inclusive Global Legal Innovation Platform on Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) which will hold its fifth expert meeting tomorrow to discuss international development and potential issues relating to ODR. Besides, we are delighted to see UNCITRAL's strong support for the secondment programme with the Department of Justice, which enables Hong Kong legal practitioners to actively take part in UNCITRAL's work and enhance their knowledge of international legal matters, thereby contributing to the capacity building of our local legal practitioners as well. I note that a number of our colleagues who have been seconded to the UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific are also with us today.

Apart from the objective of capacity building, the Judicial Conference which will centre on the theme "Building Towards End-to-End Trade Digitalization" provides a platform to share experience and exchange views on critical issues in facilitating digitalisation of the entire trade process, digitalisation of trade finance and digital assets, paperless trade systems, digital transformation in transport, as well as emerging trends in dispute resolution within the rapidly evolving digital economy, with reference to the application of UNCITRAL texts.

In fact, UNCITRAL texts have been proven to be very useful tool for creating a harmonised and enabling legal environment. We have applied and implemented quite a number of UNCITRAL texts, ranging from conventions to model rule in various areas. Very soon, as announced in the Chief Executive's Hong Kong Policy Address this year, Hong Kong would introduce legislative amendments in 2026 for digitalisation of business-to-business trade documents with reference to the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records adopted by UNCITRAL.

Complementing the Judicial Conference today, the Judicial Roundtable to be held tomorrow will explore "Recent Trends in Dispute Resolution", in order to facilitate interactive and in-depth dialogues among judges and judicial officers in the region on innovative judicial approaches for handling disputes involving artificial intelligence, as well as the dynamic interaction between alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and formal court proceedings. Let us seize the opportunity to actively engage in the exchanges, whether in person or online.

Before I conclude, may I express my appreciation to UNCITRAL again for their partnership, the Asian Development Bank for their support, and my heartfelt gratitude to all moderators and speakers, some of them have come from afar, as well as the Secretary General of the International Organization for Mediation and our Chief Justice who will give special remarks and a keynote speech in a moment. On this note, I announce the official opening of the Hong Kong Legal Week 2025. Thank you.

Speech by SJ at 6th UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Judicial Summit 2025 - Judicial Conference Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Re-launch of Reporting Scheme for Unauthorised Building Works in New Territories Exempted Houses

Following the direction of earlier proposals, the Buildings Department (BD) announced today (April 1) the re-launch of the Reporting Scheme for Unauthorised Building Works (UBWs) in New Territories Exempted Houses (NTEHs). The reporting period will last for one year from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027.

"In view of the history and unique circumstances of the NTEHs (commonly known as village houses), the Government launched a one-off administrative reporting scheme in 2012 as a special arrangement. Under the scheme, owners could report to the BD about UBWs that were erected before June 28, 2011, posed lower risks or constituted less serious contravention of the law. The reporting period ended in December 2012. The Development Bureau (DEVB) put forward proposals to amend the Buildings Ordinance in December 2024, which included rationalising the policy for handling UBWs. The DEVB also pointed out that in response to the views of villagers and Legislative Council members that the reporting period was too short, the Government prepared to re-launch the Reporting Scheme to allow owners who at that time did not report their UBWs to do so," a spokesman for the BD said.

Relevant stakeholders and Legislative Council members generally considered the above proposals practical and feasible, and they welcomed the proposals. The DEVB and the BD have also consulted Heung Yee Kuk on the relevant implementation arrangements.

The re-launched Reporting Scheme will maintain the original criteria, including:

(1) The types of UBWs that can be reported and their erection dates are the same as the original Reporting Scheme, meaning that only UBWs erected before June 28, 2011, posed lower risks or constituted less serious contravention of the law and were not the First Round Targets (Note) are eligible. Examples include signboards projecting from the external walls of village houses; enclosed rooftop structures with a coverage of not more than 50 per cent of the roofed-over area of the main building.

(2) Same as the original Reporting Scheme, owners are required to conduct safety inspections on the reported UBWs every five years.

"The BD will not require the immediate removal of the reported UBWs unless their structures become obviously dangerous. Regarding UBWs in village houses, the BD is prioritising the handling of First Round Targets. If any relevant UBWs remain not reported after the application deadline of March 31, 2027, the BD will, after dealing with the First Round Targets, take priority enforcement action against the non-reported UBWs. The BD will formulate enforcement strategy for the reported UBWs at a later stage in accordance with the risks and the actual situation," the spokesman added.

To enhance the efficiency of processing applications, reports must be submitted via the electronic platform on the BD's website by technically competent persons or registered professional engineers appointed by owners. In accordance with the user-pays principle, an administrative fee of $600 is payable for each application. Upon successful reports, owners must also pay the relevant administrative fee when conducting safety inspections of the reported UBWs every five years.

Details of the re-launched Reporting Scheme are available on the BD's website at https://www.bd.gov.hk/en/safety-inspection/ubw/UBW-in-new-territories-exempted-houses/index_relaunch_reporting_scheme.html; Villagers who wish to report can call 2626 1616 for enquiry. The BD will also use different channels such as distributing leaflets and posters to Rural Committees to enable villagers to know more about the re-launch of the Reporting Scheme.

Owners who had successfully participated in the Reporting Scheme in 2012 are not required to submit reports again. However, they must continue to comply with the requirements of the original Reporting Scheme, including conducting safety inspections of the reported UBWs every five years, submitting safety certificates and paying administrative fees to the BD.

Note: The First Round Targets refer to UBWs with higher potential risks and more serious nature, such as village houses of four storeys or more, and enclosed rooftop structures covering more than 50 per cent of the roofed-over area.

Source: AI-found images