Arrangement of the Supreme People's Court and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Civil Judgments in Matrimonial and Family Cases by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

· Area of Law： Marriage,Family Support,Adoption,and Inheritance Civil Litigation

· Level of Authority： Working Documents of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate

· Date issued：06-20-2017

· Effective Date：06-20-2017

· Status： Effective

· Issuing Authority： Supreme People's Court

Arrangement of the Supreme People's Court and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Civil Judgments in Matrimonial and Family Cases by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(June 20, 2017)

Under the provisions of Article 95 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the Supreme People's Court (“SPC”) and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“HKSAR Government”) hereby make the following arrangement for the issue of the recognition and enforcement of civil judgments in matrimonial and family cases through negotiation:
Article 1 Where the parties apply to the courts of the HKSAR for the recognition and enforcement of the effective civil judgments rendered by the people's courts of the Mainland in matrimonial and family cases or apply to the people's courts of the Mainland for the recognition and enforcement of the effective civil judgments rendered by the courts of the HKSAR in matrimonial and family cases, this Arrangement shall apply.
Where the parties apply to the courts of the HKSAR for the recognition of the divorce certificates issued by the civil affairs departments of the Mainland or apply to the people's courts of the Mainland for the recognition of the agreements and memorandums on the dissolution of marriage reached under the provisions of Parts V and VA of the Marriage Reform Ordinance (Chapter 178 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong), this Arrangement shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Article 2 For the purposes of this Arrangement, the term “effective judgments” means:
(1) in the Mainland, the judgments of second instance, the original judgments not appealable in accordance with the law or not appealed within the prescribed time limit, and the aforesaid judgments rendered according to the trial supervision procedure; and
(2) in the HKSAR, the judgments with legal force rendered by the Court of Final Appeal, the Court of Appeal of the High Court, the Court of First Instance, and the Regional Court, including the orders that may be altered after they come into force according to the law of Hong Kong.
The term “judgements” referred to in the preceding paragraph includes, in the Mainland, judgments, rulings and written mediations, and, in the HKSAR, judgments, orders, rulings, certificates for litigation expense assessment, certificates for fixed litigation expense, excluding the judgments that are rendered by the courts of other countries and regions and that are accepted by the two parties according to their laws.
Article 3 For the purposes of this Arrangement, “matrimonial and family cases” includes:
(1) in the Mainland,
(a) cases of disputes over the division of the property of parties to a marriage during the subsistence of the marriage;
(b) cases of disputes over divorce;
(c) cases of disputes over property after divorce;
(d) cases of disputes over marriage nullity;
(e) cases of disputes over revocation of marriage;
(f) cases of disputes over agreement on the matrimonial property;
(g) cases of disputes over child maintenance under the cohabitation relationship;
(h) cases of disputes over the confirmation of parentage;
(i) cases of disputes over child maintenance;
(j) cases of disputes over the maintenance of other adult dependents (limited to the disputes over the maintenance of the other party to a marriage);
(k) cases of disputes over the confirmation of the adoptive relationship;
(l) cases of disputes over guardianship (limited to the disputes over the guardianship of minor children);
(m) cases of disputes over the right to visit; and
(n) cases of applying for personal safety protective orders.
(2) in the HKSAR,
(a) divorce decrees absolute granted under Part III of the Matrimonial Causes Ordinance in Chapter 179 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong;
(b) decrees absolute of nullity of marriage granted under Part IV of the Matrimonial Causes Ordinance in Chapter 179 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong;
(c) orders for maintenance pending suits made under the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Ordinance in Chapter 192 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong;
(d) maintenance orders made under the Guardianship of Minors Ordinance in Chapter 13 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong, the Separation and Maintenance Orders Ordinance in Chapter 16 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong, and Parts II and IIA of the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Ordinance in Chapter 192 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong;
(e) orders for transferring and selling property made under the Guardianship of Minors Ordinance in Chapter 13 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong and Parts II and IIA of the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Ordinance in Chapter 192 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong;
(f) orders concerning property made under the Married Person Status Ordinance in Chapter 182 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong;
(g) orders for alteration of maintenance agreements when two parties are alive made under the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Ordinance in Chapter 192 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong;
(h) adoption orders made under the Adoption Ordinance in Chapter 290 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong;
(i) declarations of parentage, legitimacy or confirming legitimacy made under the Matrimonial Causes Ordinance in Chapter 179 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong and the Parent and Child Ordinance in Chapter 429 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong;
(j) custody orders made under the Guardianship of Minors Ordinance in Chapter 13 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong, the Separation and Maintenance Orders Ordinance in Chapter 16 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong, and the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Ordinance in Chapter 192 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong;
(k) custody orders made for minor children under the guardianship of the courts in Hong Kong; and
(l) injunctions restraining molesting, injunctions prohibiting the entry and remaining in a certain place, injunctions requiring permission to entry and remain in a certain place, or variation or suspension of custody or access orders concerning minor children made under the Domestic and Cohabitation Relationship Violence Ordinance in Chapter 189 of the Ordinances of Hong Kong.
Article 4 An application for the recognition and enforcement of a judgment as prescribed in this Arrangement shall be filed with:
(1) in the Mainland, the intermediate people's court at the place of the applicant's domicile or habitual residence or at the place of the respondent's domicile or habitual residence or the place where the respondent's property is located; and
(2) in the HKSAR, the regional court. An applicant shall file an application with one of the people's courts in compliance with the provisions of item 1 of the preceding paragraph. An application filed with two or more people's courts with jurisdiction shall be governed by the people's court that firstly puts the case on docket.
Article 5 To apply for the recognition and enforcement of a judgment as prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 1 of this Arrangement, a party shall submit the following materials:
(1) A written application.
(2) A duplicate of the judgment to which the court rendering the effective judgment has affixed a seal.
(3) A certificate issued by the court rendering the effective judgment to prove that the judgment is an effective civil judgment for a matrimonial and family case as prescribed in this Arrangement.
(4) Supporting documents proving that the court has legally summoned the parties in the case of a default judgment, unless under the circumstance that it has been clearly explained in the judgment or the application is filed by the absent party.
(5) A notarized photocopy of the identity certificate.
To apply for the recognition of a divorce certificate or agreement and memorandum as prescribed in paragraph 2 of Article 1 of this Arrangement, a party shall submit the following materials:
(1) A written application.
(2) A notarized photocopy of the divorce certificate, or a notarized photocopy of the agreement and memorandum.
(3) A notarized photocopy of the identity certificate.
Where any document submitted to a people's court of the Mainland has no Chinese version, an accurate Chinese translation shall be submitted.
Article 6 A written application shall specify:
(1) the basic information on the party, including the name, domicile, identity certificate, communication mode, etc.;
(2) the claim and reasons, and the respondent's property status and the place where the property is located, where an application for enforcement is filed; and
(3) whether an application for enforcement of a judgement has been filed with another court and the information on the enforcement.
Article 7 The period, procedure and manner of applying for recognition and enforcement of a judgement shall be governed by the law of the requested party.
Article 8 A court shall examine a request for recognition and enforcement as soon as possible and make a ruling or order.
Article 9 Where a respondent provides evidence to prove one of the following circumstances, a court shall not recognize or enforce, after examination and verification, a judgment of which an application for recognition and enforcement is filed:
(1) According to the law in the place where the original court is located, the respondent has not been legally summoned or has not obtained a reasonable opportunity for statement or debate though having been legally summoned.
(2) The judgment is obtained by fraud.
(3) After a court of the requested party accepts the relevant lawsuit, the court of the requesting party accepts another lawsuit instituted for the same dispute and renders a judgment.
(4) A court of the requested party has rendered a judgment for the same dispute or has recognized and enforced a judgment rendered by a court in another country or region for the same dispute.
Where a people's court of the Mainland deems that the recognition and enforcement of a judgment of a court of the HKSAR clearly violates the basic principles of the law of the Mainland or the public interests, or a court of the HKSAR deems that the recognition and enforcement of a judgment of a people's court of the Mainland significantly violates the basic principles of the law of the HKSAR or the public policies, the said judgment shall not be recognized or enforced.
Where a judgment of which an application for recognition and enforcement is filed involves a minor child, the best interests of the minor child shall be fully taken into account when examination is conducted for deciding whether or not to recognize and enforce the judgment under the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
Article 10 A court of the requested party may, if unable to recognize or enforce all the items of a judgment, recognize and enforce some items.
Article 11 For a judgment that is rendered by a court of the HKSAR and against which one party has appealed, the people's court of the Mainland may, after examination and verification, suspend the procedure of recognition and enforcement. Where a judgment is upheld, in whole or in part, upon appeal, the procedure of recognition and enforcement shall be resumed; and where an original judgment is completely changed, the procedure of recognition and enforcement shall be terminated.
Where a people's court of the Mainland rules to conduct retrial in respect of a judgment that has been rendered, the court of the HKSAR may, upon examination and verification, suspend the procedure of recognition and enforcement. Where a judgment is upheld, in whole or in part, upon retrial, the procedure of recognition and enforcement shall be resumed; and where an original judgment is completely changed, the procedure of recognition and enforcement shall be terminated.
Article 12 Under this Arrangement, a judgment rendered by a people's court of the Mainland on one party's ownership of relevant property shall be deemed, in the HKSAR, an order to transfer the property from one party to the other party.
Article 13 Where a respondent has property for enforcement both in the Mainland and the HKSAR, the applicant may respectively apply to the courts in the two places for enforcement.
The total amount of property enforced by the courts in the two places shall not exceed the amount determined by the judgment. As requested by the court of the other party, the courts of the two places shall mutually provide the information on the enforcement of the judgment thereby.
Article 14 The scope of property payment to be reciprocally recognized and enforced by the courts of the Mainland and of the HKSAR includes the property to be paid as determined in a judgment and the corresponding interest, late fee for deferred performance and litigation expenses, excluding taxes and fines.
The term “litigation expenses” as referred to in the preceding paragraph means, in the HKSAR, the expenses assessed or ordered to be paid by the certificates for litigation expense assessment and the certificates for fixed litigation expense.
Article 15 A party refusing to accept a ruling or order made by the court of the requested party in respect of an application for recognition and enforcement may, in the Mainland, apply to the people's court at the next higher level for reconsideration within ten days of the date when a ruling is served, or, in the HKSAR, appeal under the provisions of the law of the HKSAR.
Article 16 During the period of the trial of a matrimonial and family case, an application filed by a party for the recognition and enforcement of a judgment rendered by a court in the other place for the same dispute shall be accepted. Upon acceptance, relevant litigation shall be suspended, and shall be terminated or resumed as the case may be after a ruling or order is made with respect to the application for recognition and enforcement.
Article 17 During the period of examining an application for the recognition and enforcement of a judgment, a lawsuit instituted by a party for the same dispute shall not be accepted; and a lawsuit that has been accepted shall be dismissed.
After a judgment is recognized and enforced, a lawsuit instituted by a party for the same dispute shall not be accepted.
Where a judgment is not recognized or enforced, an applicant shall not apply for recognition or enforcement again, but may bring a lawsuit for the same dispute to the court of the requested party.
Article 18 The court of the requested party may, before or after accepting an application for the recognition and enforcement of a judgment, take preservation or compulsory measures under its laws and provisions.
Article 19 An applicant applying for the recognition and enforcement of a judgment shall pay fees under the laws and provisions of the requested party on litigation expenses.
Article 20 Judgments rendered by the courts of the Mainland and of the HKSAR since the date when this Arrangement comes into force shall be governed by this Arrangement.
Article 21 The problems encountered or the amendment needed during the process of implementing this Arrangement shall be resolved by the SPC and the HKSAR Government through consultation.
Article 22 After the Supreme People's Court issues the judicial interpretations and the HKSAR undergoes the relevant internal procedures, the two parties shall announce the date when this Arrangement comes into force.
Done in duplicate at Hong Kong the 20th day of June, 2017.
Supreme People's Court Shen Deyong, Executive Vice President
Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative RegionRimsky Yuen, Secretary for Justice