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The Legal System

the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, require states parties to submit periodic reports and other information requested to the United Nations (UN) treaty monitoring bodies. With the exception of the ICCPR, which does not apply to Mainland China, the HKSAR submits these reports as part of corresponding reports submitted by China and HKSAR teams attend hearings of relevant treaty bodies as part of the Chinese delegation. In the case of the ICCPR, the HKSAR delegation attends hearings under the leadership of the Chinese Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the UN. In addition, the UN Human Rights Council conducts a Universal Periodic Review of the human rights situation in all UN member states. The HKSAR submits its report as part of China's report for that review. In November 2015, HKSAR delegates attended a hearing under the CAT.

International Treaties and Agreements Applying to the HKSAR

Under the Basic Law, multilateral treaties can apply to the HKSAR. There are 253 such treaties. In certain areas, the HKSAR can conclude its own bilateral agreements and 240 such agreements have been concluded. Lists of these treaties and agreements and the English texts of the agreements are available on the internet, at www.doj.gov.hk/eng/laws/treaties.html.

Arbitration and Mediation

A main policy objective of the government is to promote Hong Kong as a centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia Pacific region. The Department of Justice works closely with the Law Society of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Bar Association and other stakeholders in Hong Kong to improve the provision of legal, arbitration and mediation services locally, and to promote the territory as a regional centre for international legal and dispute resolution services. An Advisory Committee on Promotion of Arbitration, formed in December 2014, co-ordinates and advises on overall strategy.

HKSAR arbitral awards can be enforced in more than 150 states that are parties to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention). The HKSAR has also entered into arrangements for reciprocal enforcement of arbitral awards with the Mainland and the Macao SAR, In October 2015, the first United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Asia Pacific Judicial Conference (Judicial Roundtable and Judicial Summit), co-organised by the Department of Justice, the UNCITRAL and the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, was held in Hong Kong relating to, among other issues, international arbitration and the New York Convention.

In January 2015, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) signed a host country agreement with the Central People's Government and a related memorandum of administrative arrangements with the HKSAR Government to facilitate the conduct of PCA-administered arbitration in Hong Kong, including state-investor arbitration. The Department of Justice organised two seminars in March and November 2015 on PCA arbitration in Hong Kong, with speakers from the PCA, including its Secretary General at the November seminar.

In 2011, an Arbitration Ordinance took effect reforming Hong Kong's arbitration law on the basis of the latest version of the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration adopted by

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