The "Arrangement on the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil Matters Concerning Marriage and Family between the Courts of the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" was adopted at the 1718th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on May 22, 2017, and is now hereby promulgated, coming into effect as of February 15, 2022. This arrangement has a significant impact on civil cases involving marriage and family matters in Hong Kong. After team discussions, a special lecture on the recognition and enforcement of judgments in marriage cases involving the Hong Kong and Macau SARs was held at the headquarters of Daohua Law Firm on February 21, 2022, with Tang Yunhong, lawyer, as the keynote speaker.

The lecture was divided into the following modules: one, explaining the matters to be resolved in divorce; two, the major impact of the arrangement on divorce cases involving Hong Kong, a brief review of the content shared by Tang Yunhong, lawyer.

One, the three matters to be resolved in divorce are as follows:

First, both parties reach an agreement on divorce and confirm the divorce; second, reach a consensus on the issue of child custody and the standard of child support payment; third, the issue of dividing joint property, which is most likely to cause disputes in reality.

If any of the above matters are not agreed upon, it will lead to a court appearance. In the mainland, the handling of divorce cases is relatively琐碎 and complex, and in cases involving Hong Kong marriage, there are issues of jurisdiction, different legal applicability, and specific enforcement issues, making it even more complex. Before the arrangement was introduced, the most common problem in divorce cases involving Hong Kong was duplicate litigation, which often increased the litigation burden on the parties involved.

Two, the major impact of the arrangement on divorce cases involving Hong Kong.

First, Hong Kong courts can recognize divorce certificates issued by mainland courts, which means that parties involved in divorce cases involving Hong Kong do not need to go through the divorce procedure in both places, thus reducing the procedural pressure on the parties involved in divorce.

Second, Hong Kong courts also recognize mediation orders issued by courts. Compared to the mainland, the conditions for divorce in Hong Kong are much stricter. Although Hong Kong courts can recognize divorce certificates issued by the mainland, it does not mean that the mediation agreements reached by both parties through a mutual divorce in the mainland will also be recognized by Hong Kong courts. Now, the arrangement has clarified that effective judgments include mediation orders, so parties involved in divorce cases involving Hong Kong can also reach a consensus on issues of child custody and property in mainland litigation divorce, and after the mediation order is issued by the court, it can also be applied for recognition and enforcement in Hong Kong courts.

Third, Article 17 of the arrangement stipulates that during the review period for the application for recognition and enforcement of judgments, if a party files a lawsuit on the same dispute, the application will not be accepted; if it has already been accepted, the lawsuit will be dismissed. If a party files a lawsuit on the same dispute after the judgment is recognized and enforced, the application will not be accepted. If a judgment is not recognized and enforced, the applicant may not file another application for recognition and enforcement, but may file a lawsuit on the same dispute with the requested court. This means that if the parties cannot reach an agreement and proceed with a mutual divorce, the party that initiates the litigation process first will have the right to choose jurisdiction and legal applicability.

This lecture has greatly benefited the attendees. Tang Yunhong, lawyer, stated that the effectiveness of the "Arrangement on the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil Matters Concerning Marriage and Family between the Courts of the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" is a major innovation in the cooperation between "statutory law" and "case law," and is also a further unification of the rule of law in the mainland and Hong Kong. The specific implementation of this arrangement may require further exploration over time. In the future, it is necessary to strengthen comprehensive study of the marriage and family legal systems in both places in order to provide clients with more professional and accurate legal service solutions.