Efforts by Hong Kong’s legal practitioners to keep a safe distance from the Chinese mainland’s judicial system struck strong, popular resonant voices in the city before the 1997 handover. Local lawyers had a strong inclination to remain in their professional comfort zones in Hong Kong. 

What once seemed impossible now looks as though it could become reality. There is a widespread perception that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Legal Professional Examination has brought Hong Kong’s legal profession into the GBA age.

The GBA Legal Examination seems to work in tandem with the strategic plan of the central government to integrate Hong Kong, Macao, and nine cities of Guangdong province into an economic powerhouse. The pilot mechanism allows lawyers from Hong Kong and Macao to provide specified civil and commercial legal services in the nine mainland GBA cities after obtaining a GBA practice license, which was introduced in October 2020 and has been officially extended to October 2026. Once qualified, the GBA lawyers will be required to join as members of the local lawyers’ associations, as well as the All China Lawyers Association.

Greasing the wheels of talent mobility, the GBA Legal Examination allows Hong Kong legal practitioners to play a more important role in developing the GBA as well as facilitating its integration into the national development

Until the early 2000s, double legal qualification had remained an alien concept in Hong Kong. If Hong Kong residents want to practice law on the mainland, they need to take the national judicial examinations in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the pass rate was very low. The Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), signed in June 2003, allows mainland law firms to employ Hong Kong lawyers who are nonetheless not allowed to handle matters relating to mainland law. What is more, the CEPA Supplement X, signed in August 2013, provides for mainland law firms from Guangdong to second mainland lawyers as mainland law consultants in representative offices set up by Hong Kong firms in that province.

As legislator Simon Lee Hoey has correctly pointed out, how we can integrate the best systems, or facilitate the best systems to be practiced throughout the whole GBA, is the key to the success of the GBA. He stressed that Qianhai’s arrangement, allowing Hong Kong and Macao lawyers to practice law in Qianhai, is an example of choosing the best criteria and system for the whole area and region (Department of Justice, Stability to Prosperity, May 27, 2022). Hong Kong legal practitioners are expected to play an important role in laying the legal foundation of Qianhai.

Legal practitioners from Hong Kong are set to benefit from the growing demand for legal services in Qianhai. It’s noteworthy that Hong Kong wholly owned enterprises registered in Qianhai can adopt Hong Kong laws and choose for arbitration to be seated in Hong Kong. After getting the GBA practice license, Hong Kong lawyers can handle matters relating to mainland law. Most importantly, double-licensed Hong Kong lawyers can deal with cross-jurisdictional legal issues.

In 2021, Hong Kong was ranked the third-most preferred seat for arbitration worldwide by the 2021 International Arbitration Survey released by the Queen Mary University of London. Efforts to promote Hong Kong-based arbitration should be extended to other areas of Shenzhen and even the entire GBA. CEPA also provides a mediation mechanism for investment disputes, which encourages mainland investors to use Hong Kong mediation services to resolve cross-border investment disputes relating to the investment agreements.

It’s also worth noting that the litigants in eligible cases seeking enforcement of mainland judgments can apply to have it registered with the Court of First Instance in Hong Kong. The new law will come into effect in January. If litigants are not sure whether the Court of First Instance will accept the application, they should seek advice from GBA lawyers. Mainland clients, who have legal disputes with Hong Kong enterprises, may also need to seek advice from GBA lawyers.

Another actor that incentivizes Hong Kong lawyers to get the GBA practice license is the growing demands for intellectual property protection in the GBA. The national 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) has assigned a core position to technological development and independent innovation, with the establishment of an international I&T hub being a priority in GBA development. Besides, Hong Kong is well positioned to be a regional intellectual property trading center.

The decision by the State Council to reduce the minimum experience required by the GBA Legal Examination from five years to three years has drawn applause from many quarters in Hong Kong and Macao. Ambrose Lam San-keung, representative of the legal sector in the Legislative Council, said the relaxation of the experience threshold for the GBA Legal Examination enables young lawyers in Hong Kong to seize the opportunities emerging from the nation’s rapid development.

We also welcomed the relaxation and expects more young lawyers from Hong Kong and Macao to play a more positive role in promoting the growth of the GBA.

From a broader perspective, we see the likelihood of a proactive role played by an integrated GBA legal sector to provide legal support for Belt and Road Initiative-related investment projects. With wide international networks, some law firms in Hong Kong and Macao are well positioned to act as a bridge between the nine municipalities in the mainland part of the GBA and the rest of the world. The bridge would be extended to connect and reach other mainland cities in future. Currently, Hong Kong has 1,430 registered foreign lawyers.

From 2021 to 2023, about 1,500 Hong Kong and Macao lawyers registered to take the GBA Legal Examination, out of whom 357 have successfully obtained the practice license as GBA lawyers. With dual qualification, GBA lawyers can provide cross-jurisdictional legal services for clients in the GBA. Greasing the wheels of talent mobility, the GBA Legal Examination allows Hong Kong legal practitioners to play a more important role in developing the GBA as well as facilitating its integration into the national development.

Lei Wun-kong, is a lawyer based in Macao and litigation & practice senior consultant of Chinese Dream Think Tank. 

Kacee Ting Wong is a barrister, part-time researcher of Shenzhen University Hong Kong and Macao Basic Law Research Center, and chairman of Chinese Dream Think Tank, and a district councilor.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.