HKSAR and Supreme People's Court Reach Consensus on Deepening Cooperation in Judicial and Legal Talent Training

HKSAR and Supreme People's Court reach consensus on deepening co-operation in judicial and legal talent training

The Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, today (September 21) met with the Director of the Political Department of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), Mr Sun Zhenping, and reached a consensus on deepening co-operation in judicial and legal talent training to promote collaboration in nurturing judicial and legal talent between Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Mainland.

In accordance with the consensus reached, and with a view to further consolidating and deepening long-term co-operation in nurturingjudicial and legal talent between the two places, the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the SPC will establish and maintain institutionalised co-operative projects, support Hong Kong in leveraging its strengths under the rule of law to participate more extensively in the high-quality joint development of the Belt and Road Initiative, collaborate on compiling judicial and legal research reports, mutually recommend judicial and legal experts to deliver lectures, and jointly enhance the development of online training platforms. The DoJ and the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy will actively explore and deepen opportunities for co-operation with the SPC across various areas.

With the staunch support and guidance of the SPC, the Academy has organised a wide range of capacity-building programmes since its launch in November 2024. These initiatives achieved notable success in actively promoting professional exchanges and mutual learning of experiences between the legal and judicial sectors of both places. The Academy co-organised two cohorts of the Hong Kong Common Law Practical Training Course with the SPC in Hong Kong in January 2025 and January this year. It also co-organised the Shanghai Foreign-Related Adjudication Talent Training Course with the Shanghai High People's Court in Shanghai in November 2025, and the Greater Bay Area Foreign-Related Adjudication Talent Training Course with the High People's Court of Guangdong Province in Guangzhou in July this year. Over 240 Mainland judges in total participated in these training. Furthermore, the Academy held the Mainland Civil and Commercial Legal Practice Training Course in Hong Kong in June 2025 and August this year, inviting judges from the SPC and local courts to serve as speakers. In addition to these programmes, the Academy will collaborate with the National Judges College in the future to organise capacity-building programmes for judges from countries and regions along the Belt and Road, fostering talent exchanges across the Belt and Road regions.

The Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC (right), today (September 21) met with the Director of the Political Department of the Supreme People's Court, Mr Sun Zhenping (left), and reached a consensus on deepening co-operation in judicial and legal talent training. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

EPD alerts public to fraudulent recycling subsidy scheme

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has recently received public enquiries regarding a recycling subsidy scheme purportedly jointly launched by an enterprise and the EPD. The publicity poster claimed that subsidy would be provided for recycling under the "Renewable Resource Recovery Incentive Scheme". The EPD today (November 9) urged members of the public to stay alert and not to believe in that circulating publicity poster and relevant information.

The EPD clarified that the Department has never jointly launched any project named the "Renewable Resource Recovery Incentive Scheme" with any organisations, nor has it authorised any individual or entity to use the name and logo of the EPD for such publicity. Upon review, the logos of the EPD and the related enterprise on the poster are false. The EPD has reported the case to the Police.

A spokesperson for the EPD reminded the public not to trust posters, links, or messaging software from unknown sources and not to participate in suspicious recycling subsidy activities. Members of the public should also refrain from disclosing personal data or financial information to unknown sources. Anyone who has provided personal information or conducted transactions in connection with the fraudulent recycling subsidy scheme is advised to contact the Police as soon as possible.