Announcement follows recent reviews of arbitration statutes in England, Singapore and PRC
Hong Kong's arbitration legislation will be reviewed to ensure it remains at the cutting edge of international best practice.
The announcement was made during the annual policy address delivered by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Mr John Lee, to the Legislative Council on 17 September 2025. The government will "step up promotion of Hong Kong's arbitration services, while studying the need to amend the Arbitration Ordinance", according to the speech.
The current Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609) entered into force in 2011 and has been updated regularly, including to provide for the enforcement of orders made by emergency arbitrators (reported here), confirm the arbitrability of intellectual property disputes (reported here), and permit third party funding and outcome-related fee structures in arbitration (reported here and here).
The legislation is principally based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (Model Law), which has been adopted in 127 jurisdictions around the world, including other leading common law jurisdictions such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore.
Hong Kong is the most popular seat for arbitration users based in Asia-Pacific and the second most popular globally (jointly with Singapore), according to the most recent statistical survey by Queen Mary University of London. It is home to the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, which recorded a record caseload and amount in dispute in its 2024 statistics (reported here) and ranks as the top choice of institution for Asia-Pacific users and second globally (jointly with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre), according to the same survey.
Any amendments to the Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance are therefore likely to be watched closely by arbitration users in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, and may have broader significance for developments in other Model Law jurisdictions.
The review of the Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance follows recent developments in several other jurisdictions. Amendments to the English Arbitration Act 1996 came into force on 1 August 2025, including a new default rule regarding the governing law of the arbitration agreement, the codification of arbitrators' duties of disclosure, and the introduction of a statutory power of summary disposal (see our blog here and podcast here). Public consultations on the amendment of the Singapore International Arbitration Act 1994 were also completed earlier this year (as reported here). Most recently, it was announced earlier this month that an amended version of the PRC Arbitration Law will come into effect from 1 March 2026.
Although no timetable has yet been announced for the Hong Kong review process, it will presumably include a public consultation exercise similar to that undertaken before the introduction of the current Arbitration Ordinance. Further developments will be posted on this blog.
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