The Court’s Secretary General emphasized the importance of the anticipated information technology system upgrade, which would allow the Secretariat to keep track in real time of the status of each case, this is part of an entire review of priorities and procedures internally and externally with a view to delivering a quality service.

The ICC International Court of Arbitration‘s work load continues to increase at a fast pace. The number of cases registered jumped to 663 last year from 599 in 2007. In addition 407 awards were rendered in 2008, compared with 349 in 2007, while there were 1,317 cases pending compared with 1,285 at the end of the previous year. The new Hong Kong office of the Court was up and running, with some 100 cases already registered.

“The International Chamber of Commerce’s decision to set up branch of the Secretariat of the Court in Hong Kong is an endorsement of our position as a premier center for international arbitration services. Its presence will enhance the provision of arbitration services in Hong Kong, ” said Wong Yan Lung, secretary for Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

The ICC International Court of Arbitration is one of the world’s top international dispute resolution institutions. It is assisted by a secretariat located at the ICC headquarters in Paris. In 2007, it handled 599 domestic and international arbitration cases. The Court oversees the ICC arbitration process and, among other things, is responsible for appointing arbitrators and scrutinizing and approving all arbitral awards.

Negotiation: The most common form of dispute resolution is negotiation. By this means alone nearly all disputes are solved. If negotiations fail, it is necessary to seek the assistance of a neutral third party or several neutral third parties to facilitate a solution.

Mr. Christopher To, Secretary General of Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre HKIAC, video:

Arbitration: For an arbitration to take place, the disputing parties must agree to take their dispute to arbitration. In practice, this agreement is often made before the dispute arises and is included as a clause in their commercial contract. In signing a contract with an arbitration clause, the parties are agreeing that their dispute will not be heard by a court but by a private individual or a panel of several private individuals. If parties have agreed to arbitration, they will generally have to go to arbitration rather than court as the courts will normally refuse to hear their case by staying it to force the reluctant party to honour their agreement to arbitrate.

Arbitration is a legal process which results in an award being issued by the arbitrator or arbitrators. Arbitration awards are final and binding on the parties and can only be challenged in very exceptional circumstances. An award has a status very like a court judgment and is enforceable in a very similar manner. Arbitration awards made in Hong Kong are enforceable through the courts of most of the world’s trading nations.

Litigation: In the absence of an arbitration agreement or other consensual means of dispute resolution, the parties may commence proceedings in the courts. Litigation in Hong Kong courts is handled very competently. The decision of the Court of First Instance is not, however, final as an aggrieved party has an automatic right of appeal to the Court of Appeal and if the amount in dispute exceeds HK$1,000,000, they have an automatic right of appeal from the Court of Appeal to the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.

Online Arbitration in Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre HKIAC

The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre HKIAC places great emphasis to providing online dispute resolution services in a wide variety of areas including the areas of intellectual property and information technology. Thus it is fitting that the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre HKIAC has set as one of its goals to be one of the leaders among online dispute resolution providers in regard to domain names and E-Commerce.

The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre HKIAC provides online dispute resolution services in the following ways:-

Dispute Resolution Service for Domain Names:

1. Dispute Resolution for gTLDs (for example: .com, .net and .org etc) – (UDRP)
As a partner in and manager of the Hong Kong Office of in the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre which is one of the four domain name dispute resolution providers approved by the Internet Corporation for the Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to provide domain name dispute resolution services in regard to generic top level domain names (gTLDs) such as .com, .net and .org. Disputes in regard to gTLDs are carried out under the Uniform Domain Name Policy (UDRP) issued by ICANN. Dispute Resolution for gTLDs

2. Dispute Resolution for ccTLDs (for example: .hk, .cn , .pw and .ph etc)
a. The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre HKIAC is the sole provider of dispute resolution services in regards to .hk domain names, having been appointed for such purpose by the Hong Kong Domain Name Registration Company Limited (HKDNR). Mandatory final and binding arbitration is the method chosen by HKDNR for the purpose of resolving disputes in regards to .hk domain names. Dispute Resolution for .hk
b. The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre HKIAC has been appointed by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) to resolve .cn domain name disputes. Dispute Resolution for .cn
c.The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre HKIAC was appointed by the .pw Registry Corporation as the sole .pw Domain Name Dispute Resolution Service Provider. Dispute Resolution for .pw
d.The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre HKIAC was recently appointed by the .dotPH – the Official Domain Name Registry for Philippines to resolve .ph domain name disputes. Dispute Resolution for .ph

3. DotAsia Sunrise Challenge Policy.

The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) is the global official dispute resolution provider to handle disputes and challenges arising out of the launch of the .Asia domain.

Dispute Resolution for Registrar Transfer (TDRP)

The ADNDRC has started to handle Registrar Transfer Disputes under the ICANN Registrar Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy since 11 December 2004. Dispute Resolution for Registrar Transfer Disputes.

Dispute Resolution for Internet Keyword

The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre HKIAC has been appointed by the CNNIC as a provider to handle Internet Keyword Dispute under CNNIC’s Internet Keyword Dispute Resolution Policy. Dispute Resolution for Internet Keyword Dispute.

Dispute Resolution for E-Commerce – HKIAC Webtrust Programme

Webtrust Programme is a third party arbitration framework for the use and adoption by on-line merchants to handle consumer disputes on-line. It is jointly promulgated by the HKIAC and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accounts in January 2002. The HKIAC is the administrative organisation of that programme, responsible for administering the Programme and appointing of arbitrator. The HKIAC Electronic Transaction Arbitration Rules was adopted as the rules for the arbitration process of that programme.

In order to facilitate the efficient and speedy disposition of domain name disputes, the HKIAC, with technology powered and supported by the Tradelink Electronic Commerce Ltd., has developed a proprietary on-line dispute resolution system for gTLD and hkTLD, which permits parties to conduct their domain name dispute cases by means of a sophisticated fully on-line web-based system.

More information: Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre HKIAC.