Mediation and Civil Justice Reform in Hong Kong

Summary

This article assesses Hong Kong's Civil Justice Reform, introduced in April 2009 on the model of the English Woolf reforms, together with Practice Direction 31 on mediation, in force from January 2010, and asks whether these measures can shift litigation culture towards mediation. It examines two judicial powers: whether courts can compel reluctant parties to mediate — which Hong Kong courts, like English ones, cannot do — and whether a successful litigant who unreasonably refused mediation can be penalised in costs. Drawing on English case law such as Halsey v Milton Keynes General NHS Trust, it notes that Hong Kong courts place the onus on the refusing party to justify its refusal, and anticipates that mediation will gradually become embedded in local practice.