Introduction Hong Kong’s Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609) (“AO”) has adopted Articles 17-17H of the UNCITRAL Model Law on interim measures and preliminary orders.[1] However, for recognition and enforcement of interim measures (Articles 17H and 17I) and court-ordered interim measures (Article 17J), the AO has adopted its own regimes tailored for Hong Kong.[2] For court-ordered interim measures, section 45 AO empowers the Court of First Instance (CFI) to grant interim measures for any arbitrations which have…

The Court of First Instance (CFI) already considered twice this year in the context of interim measures whether an arbitrator’s order amounted to an award or interim order: see our blog post on the decisions in G v N and W v Contractor.[1] But questions for the CFI as to what constitutes an award continue. InL v R [2024] HKCFI 1611, the plaintiff (L) applied to the CFI to set aside a Settlement Agreement (SA)…

Multi-party and multi-contract scenarios are commonplace in international arbitration. Many arbitration rules offer regimes seeking to tackle problems that may arise in such complex scenarios. An example is the regime under Article 29 of the 2018 HKIAC Rules. It allows a claimant to commence a single arbitration under multiple contracts where (i) a common question of law or fact arises under each arbitration agreement giving rise to the arbitration, (ii) the rights to relief claimed…

Recently in CNG v G and Another [2024] HKCFI 575,[1] The Honourable Madam Justice Mimmie Chan of the Court of First Instance dismissed an application to set aside an award. At the outset, Chan J has made yet another effort to summarise the important principles set out in many of the Courts’ decisions on challenges to awards or their enforcement: To Chan J’s dissatisfaction, reminders of these important principles have not been effective in discouraging…