Delegation of Hong Kong’s high court visits BFIPC

A delegation, comprising Poon Shiu-chor, chief judge of the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Chu Fun-ling, vice-president of the Court of Appeal of the Hong Kong High Court, and Rayson Chan Hui-sang, assistant judiciary administrator of the Hong Kong Judiciary, recently visited the Beijing Fourth Intermediate People's Court (BFIPC) for an exchange.

They were accompanied throughout the visit by Zhou Jiahai, director of the Research Office of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), and He Fan, director of the SPC's Adjudication Management Office, for research and guidance. Gong Haoming, president of the BFIPC, Li Yingxin, vice-president of the BFIPC, and officials from relevant departments of the SPC, the Beijing High People's Court and the BFIPC, also attended. A symposium on adjudication for mainland and Hong Kong courts, chaired by Zhou, was held as part of the visit.

The delegation toured the case-filing and litigation service hall, the mediation room of the international commercial court, the Beijing International Commercial Tribunal (BICT), the internet court and an exhibition on China's outstanding traditional legal culture. They also experienced firsthand such facilities as the smart-service kiosk, the bilingual (Chinese-English) website reading devices and the bilingual court trial system, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the achievements and experiences of the BFIPC in its modernization drive.

Zhou noted at the symposium that through the joint efforts of the SPC and the Hong Kong Judiciary, the two sides have continued to deepen judicial exchanges and cooperation, supported Hong Kong in leveraging its advantages of connecting the mainland with the world, and contributed to the development of the rule of law in the country. The two sides have continued to build new platforms, expand areas of cooperation and achieve new breakthroughs, promoting closer, more efficient and more pragmatic judicial cooperation under the "one country, two systems" principle, he added.

Participants held in-depth discussions on the operation of the BICT, the Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on the Adjudication of Cases Involving Artificial Intelligence in Accordance with Law and the judicial application of AI and judicial ethics.

The delegation members remarked that the achievements of the BICT in various respects are impressive, and that many of its practices, such as effectively enhancing the quality and efficiency of adjudication and enforcement through the development of smart courts, offer valuable references for the Hong Kong Judiciary. They expressed the hope to continue strengthening judicial exchanges to help enhance professional competence of judicial personnel on both sides and jointly advance the country's opening-up and the development of the rule of law.