New global mediation body could open in Hong Kong as early as end of 2025 An international mediation body to be inaugurated in Hong Kong and backed by mainland Chinese authorities could open its office as early as the end of this year, a senior official has said. Legal experts said they expect it to burnish the city’s status as a top jurisdiction to resolve disputes between states amid rising geopolitical tensions. Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan on Sunday gave an update on the opening schedule for the International Organisation for Mediation, days before China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, was expected to arrive for the signing ceremony of the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organisation for Mediation on May 30. Cheung said the body’s Hong Kong headquarters, currently under renovation at the site of the old Wan Chai Police Station, could be open by the end of this year or the beginning of 2026. “It marks the first time an intergovernmental international organisation sets foot in Hong Kong,” Cheung said on social media. “This will significantly elevate Hong Kong’s international image as a global mediation hub and bring numerous benefits, including enhancements in its economy, political standing, cultural influence and international impact.” He said the city’s status as a mediation hub could lure more international organisations, NGOs and academic bodies to the city and yield more job opportunities for mediators, translators, researchers and administrative staff. Cheung also said he hoped the establishment of the headquarters would prompt more international meetings and exhibitions in Hong Kong and spur the development of the hotel, catering, transport and logistics industries. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po wrote in his blog on Sunday that the mediation body would boost Hong Kong’s appeal for international business and trade activities. He added that it would also consolidate the city’s position as an international trading hub as the headquarters could facilitate cooperation among members under the Belt and Road Initiative, an ongoing effort to link economies across the globe into a China-centred trade network. Legal experts told the Post that mediation was on the rise as a means to resolve large-scale disputes globally, while Hong Kong was well-suited as a base for the international body, with its depth of multicultural legal talent and broad expertise in different systems of law. Professor Shahla Ali, a dispute resolution specialist and associate dean in international affairs at the University of Hong Kong’s faculty of law, said that participating countries would begin internal legislative processes ranging from six months to several years after declaring their commitment to the organisation on Friday. “After signing, countries will need to then ratify the convention formalising the commitment by making changes to national laws giving effect to the convention,” she said. While it would take some time for the mediation body to set up operations at its headquarters in the city, Hong Kong’s status as a world-leading international dispute resolution venue would be bolstered with the organisation’s inauguration, Ali said. Senior Counsel Maurellet echoed Ali’s sentiment and explained that the mediation body would reinforce the city’s well-established strengths in dispute resolution, as Hong Kong would be able to resolve more types of disputes, with its use of common law and separate legal system from the mainland. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed during the opening ceremony for the organisation’s preparatory office in 2023 that Indonesia, Pakistan, Laos, Cambodia, Serbia, Belarus, Sudan, Algeria and Djibouti were among the countries that had signed up to the mediation body. Maurellet noted that disputes between states were rising as geopolitical tensions mounted across the globe and having an international organisation dedicated to mediation would be beneficial to both Hong Kong and disputing parties. Unlike arbitration, where parties are bound by rules to accept the trial outcome, mediation is entirely consensual. “In that sense, it really values the party’s autonomy, the country’s autonomy and also respect for their sovereignty.” https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3311707/new-global-mediation-body-could-open-hong-kong-early-end-2025-official-says?module=top_story&pgtype=section (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post