Adoption of UNCITRAL Model Law of Arbitration
(HKLRC Report)
In this report published in 1987, the Commission recommends that, subject to a few minor changes, the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration adopted by UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) should replace existing Hong Kong law on international arbitration.
One of the proposed minor changes is that the term "commercial" be deleted from the Model Law. The effect of this deletion is to extend the scope of the Law to cover all disputes between parties who elect to go for arbitration where the dispute has an international element.
The Commission also recommends that if the Model Law were to become part of the Hong Kong law, international parties should have the right to elect to have their dispute dealt with under existing Hong Kong arbitration law, which would otherwise apply only to domestic arbitrations. At the same time, domestic parties should have the right, after a dispute has arisen, to agree that the international rather than the domestic law should apply. Another subsidiary recommendation is that a new conciliation provision, allowing an arbitrator to attempt conciliation during the course of a reference, should be added both to the Model Law and the Arbitration Ordinance.
The Arbitration (Amendment) (No.2) Ordinance implemented these proposals in 1989.
| Press Release (PDF) (MS Word) |
| Report (PDF) (MS Word) |