DoJ debunks fallacies over mainland legal agreement
The Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday rejected suggestions that mainland court judgments in civil and commercial cases will soon be automatically applicable in Hong Kong, and that authorities across the border will be able to directly seize assets in the SAR. From Monday, courts on either side of the border can recognise and enforce reciprocally relevant judgements under an arrangement Hong Kong and the Supreme People's Court agreed in 2019.  A DoJ spokesman said claims that mainland and Hong Kong courts will be exchanging information on the details or enforcement of civil and commercial cases are nothing but a fallacy. "Applications for enforcement of judgments are to be initiated by the parties, which is consistent with the current practice for applications for enforcement of foreign judgments in Hong Kong in accordance with the relevant principles under common law and the applicable statutory provisions," he said in a statement. "Another absolute fallacy", the spokesman said, is that mainland judgments will automatically become applicable in the SAR, with assets in Hong Kong confiscated by the mainland directly.  He stressed that before such things can take place, a number of procedures will have to be completed, such as obtaining a judgment certificate from the mainland court and then submitting it to the SAR's High Court. "More importantly, the registrant must notify the other party of the judgment, in order to allow that party to consider applying to the Hong Kong court to set aside the registration," the spokesman said. He added that the new arrangement is to reduce the need for re-litigation of the same disputes and to better balance the interests of creditors and debtors.