UNCITRAL Celebrates 60 Years of Advancing International Trade Law at Hong Kong Legal Week 2026

Hong Kong Legal Week 2026: UNCITRAL's 60th anniversary celebration event held today (with photos/video)

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)'s 60th anniversary celebration event was held at the Hong Kong Legal Week 2026 today (November 4). Over 700 people from more than 40 jurisdictions registered for the event to reflect on UNCITRAL's achievements in fostering the progressive harmonisation, unification and modernisation of international trade law in the past six decades, and examine how UNCITRAL could further support cross-border commerce in the digital era.

"UNCITRAL's Contribution to the International Transport of Goods in the Digital Economy - A Celebration of UNCITRAL@60 at Hong Kong Legal Week" featured discussions on UNCITRAL's contribution to the international transport of goods and trade finance, and the challenges and opportunities faced in an increasingly paperless and digitally enabled ecosystem for global commerce.

Delivering his welcome remarks, the Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, said that UNCITRAL's contribution to the international transport of goods in the digital economy is not just on legal texts, but also on reducing trade barriers and ensuring interoperability, and creating a digitally enabled ecosystem for global commerce with legal certainty. Mr Lam said that as an international trade centre, Hong Kong has been committed to promoting the development of digital trade by including the introduction of legislative amendments to foster trade, and the collaboration between the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy and UNCITRAL to strengthen exchanges and talent training.

The Secretary of UNCITRAL, Ms Anna Joubin-Bret, thanked the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for its continuous support to UNCITRAL's work in her welcome remarks.

At the conference, the Secretary-General of the International Organization for Mediation, Professor Teresa Cheng, delivered her keynote speech on the contribution of Hong Kong towards advancing the rule of law in international trade and commerce.

Across the four panel discussion sessions, a number of experts with extensive knowledge of international trade discussed UNCITRAL's current initiatives and future development of international trade on dimensions including the digitalisation and platformisation of trade finance; enabling paperless trade in cross-border scenarios; the impact of negotiable cargo documents on digital transformation in transport and beyond under the United Nations Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents; and how the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships facilitates cross-border recognition of judicial sales of ships through digital tools.

In his closing remarks, the Deputy Secretary for Justice, Dr Cheung Kwok-kwan, said that sharing among experts from the judicial, legal and public policy sectors during the panel discussions fully reflects UNCITRAL's enduring efforts on and contribution to the international transport of goods. He stressed that international co-operation is the bedrock of promoting a seamless global trading system. Dr Cheung said that, looking forward, different parties should actively embrace digitalisation and promote legal harmonisation together.

Also, one of the highlight events, the Hong Kong LawTech Fest, has returned to the Hong Kong Legal Week. For three days from today, the LawTech Fest features the LawTech Forum, LawTech Exhibition, and the Insight Stage, showcasing the latest developments in lawtech and fostering a critical dialogue on the ethical and professional implications of the adoption of AI for the legal sector. Mr Lam and Dr Cheung visited the LawTech Exhibition and exchanged views with the sector this morning to learn more about the latest developments of lawtech products and services. They encouraged the Hong Kong legal sector to join the Funding Scheme for LawTech Solution Subscription by the Hong Kong Legal Sector newly launched by the Department of Justice to enhance their capability to adopt lawtech.

The LawTech Exhibition gathers 15 lawtech service providers, including the designated service providers under the Funding Scheme, to showcase their latest lawtech solutions and introduce how AI and other technologies can enhance efficiency and elevate the service quality of the legal sector. Through interactive workshops and live demonstrations, the Insight Stage allows legal professionals to experience firsthand how to leverage lawtech and AI solutions, including legal research, automated review and data analysis, workflow management, document drafting and hearing support service to enhance the competitiveness of the sector.

The LawTech Forum, the highlight event of Hong Kong LawTech Fest, will be held tomorrow (November 5) afternoon with the theme "Human in the Loop, Integrity at the Core - Redefining Legal Practice with LawTech". Leading experts from the lawtech field and stakeholders with different backgrounds will exchange views on AI governance and explore how the legal sector can make good use of lawtech while upholding integrity, trust and professional responsibility.

The Hong Kong Mediation Lecture 2026 will be held in the evening on the same day. It will introduce the recent efforts of the Hong Kong Mediation Accreditation Association Limited to strengthen professional standards and public confidence in the mediation profession, and explore its role in performing statutory mediator appointment functions envisaged under the proposed legislative amendments.

For more details of the Hong Kong Legal Week 2026, please visit the dedicated website at www.legalweek.hk. A live broadcast will be available on the dedicated website and at webcast.info.gov.hk.

Hong Kong Legal Week 2026: UNCITRAL's 60th anniversary celebration event held today Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Hong Kong Legal Week 2026: UNCITRAL's 60th anniversary celebration event held today Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Hong Kong Legal Week 2026: UNCITRAL's 60th anniversary celebration event held today Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Hong Kong Legal Week 2026: UNCITRAL's 60th anniversary celebration event held today Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Hong Kong Legal Week 2026: UNCITRAL's 60th anniversary celebration event held today Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Hong Kong Legal Week 2026: UNCITRAL's 60th anniversary celebration event held today Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Hong Kong Legal Week 2026: UNCITRAL's 60th anniversary celebration event held today Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Hong Kong Legal Week 2026: UNCITRAL's 60th anniversary celebration event held today Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Hong Kong Legal Week 2026: UNCITRAL's 60th anniversary celebration event held today Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Hong Kong Legal Week 2026: UNCITRAL's 60th anniversary celebration event held today Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Hong Kong Customs detects drug trafficking case involving incoming passenger at airport

Hong Kong Customs today (November 4) detected a drug trafficking case involving a passenger at Hong Kong International Airport and seized about one kilogram of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about $600,000. A man was arrested.

A 36-year-old local male passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, today. During customs clearance, Customs officers found the batch of suspected cocaine in the shoes worn by him. He was subsequently arrested.

An investigation of the case is ongoing.

Customs will continue to step up enforcement against drug trafficking activities through intelligence analysis. The department also reminds members of the public to stay alert and not to participate in drug trafficking activities for monetary return. They must not accept hiring or delegation from another party to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong.

Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.

Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

Hong Kong Customs detects drug trafficking case involving incoming passenger at airport Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases