ENG-2018 — Page 58

2

The Legal System

as part of the Chinese delegation. The HKSAR delegation attends ICCPR 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.

Department of Justice

The Department of Justice, headed by the Secretary for Justice, plays a significant role in the legal system and in upholding the rule of law in Hong Kong. The Secretary for Justice is the government's chief legal adviser and represents the government in all actions brought by, or against, it. She also has a constitutional duty to make prosecutorial decisions independently, free from any interference.

There are five legal divisions in the department, namely the Civil Division, the International Law Division, the Law Drafting Division, the Legal Policy Division and the Prosecutions Division.

Among other tasks, the department handles criminal prosecution; drafts government legislation; and advises the government on, for example, administrative, commercial, criminal, international and constitutional laws. In addition, it drafts commercial contracts and franchises; conducts civil litigation, arbitration and mediation on behalf of the government, and promotes Hong Kong as a leading centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2018, the department set out the following major policy initiatives and undertook measures to take these initiatives forward.

Major Policy Initiatives

Promotion of Hong Kong's International Legal and Dispute Resolution Services

The department promotes Hong Kong as an international legal and dispute resolution centre in the light of opportunities arising from the Belt and Road Initiative. It provides support to a non-governmental organisation to develop an online deal-making and dispute resolution platform which is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. The online platform will offer efficient, cost-effective and secure services to assist parties in resolving cross-border disputes, including commercial and investment disputes involving Belt and Road economies, and entering into business deals.

To further promote the use of mediation for the settlement of investment disputes, the department provides legal assistance in implementing the mediation mechanism established under an investment agreement concluded in January under the framework of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement. The mediation rules and the designated mediation institutions and mediators of Hong Kong and the Mainland were announced on 14 December.

In October the department, in collaboration with the World Bank Group's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and the Asian Academy of International Law, organised the first Investment Law and Investor-State Mediator Training course in Hong Kong. The objective was to build up a team of investment mediators in Asia and develop Hong Kong into a training base for international investment law and international investment dispute resolution

24