Lecture Review: Recognition and Enforcement of Marital Decisions Involving Hong Kong and Macau

The "Arrangement of the Supreme People's Court on the Mutual Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil Cases of Marriage and Family Matters between 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 hereby promulgated. It shall come into effect as of February 15, 2022. This arrangement has a significant impact on marriage and family cases involving 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 as the speaker.

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

One, there are three matters to be resolved in a divorce:

First, both parties have reached an agreement on divorce and have decided to divorce; second, they have reached a consensus on the issue of child custody and the standard of child support payment; third, it is the most likely to cause disputes in the division of joint property in reality.

If any matter is not agreed upon in the above, it will lead to a court appearance. The handling of divorce cases on the mainland is relatively trivial and complex, and in cases involving Hong Kong marriages, there are issues of jurisdiction, different legal applicability, and specific enforcement problems, making it even more complex. Before this arrangement was introduced, the most commonly encountered issue in Hong Kong divorce cases was duplicate litigation, which often increased the burden on the parties involved.

The significant impact of this arrangement on divorce cases involving Hong Kong.

Firstly, Hong Kong courts can recognize divorce certificates issued in mainland China, which means that parties involved in Hong Kong divorces no longer need to go through the divorce procedure in both places, thereby alleviating the procedural pressure on the parties involved in divorce.

Secondly, Hong Kong courts also recognize the "Mediation Document" issued by the court. The conditions for divorce in Hong Kong are much stricter compared to the mainland. 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 on the mainland will also be recognized by the Hong Kong courts. Now that the arrangement has clarified that the effective judgment includes the mediation document, parties involved in Hong Kong divorce can also reach a mediation agreement on issues such as child custody and property in mainland litigation for divorce. After the court issues the mediation document, it can also be applied for recognition and enforcement in the Hong Kong court.

Thirdly, Article 17 of the arrangement stipulates that during the period for reviewing and recognizing and enforcing judgments, if a party files a lawsuit on the same dispute, the lawsuit will not be accepted; if already accepted, the lawsuit will be rejected. After the judgment is recognized and enforced, if a party files a lawsuit on the same dispute again, it will not be accepted. If the judgment is not recognized and enforced, the applicant may not apply again for recognition and enforcement, but may file a lawsuit on the same dispute with the requested court. This means that if the two parties cannot reach an agreement, under the premise of a mutual divorce agreement, the party who initiates the litigation process first will have the right to choose jurisdiction and the applicable law.

This lecture has greatly benefited the attendees. Lawyer Tang Yunhong stated that the implementation of the "Arrangement of the Supreme People's Court on the Mutual Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil Cases Relating to Marriage and Family Matters between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" is a major innovation in the cooperation between "statutory law" and "case law," and it is also a further unification of the rule of law between 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 law systems in both places to provide clients with more professional and accurate legal service solutions.