China Justice Observer

中司观察

EnglishArabicChinese (Simplified)DutchFrenchGermanHindiItalianJapaneseKoreanPortugueseRussianSpanishSwedishHebrewIndonesianVietnameseThaiTurkishMalay

Beijing Court Recognizes Hong Kong Divorce Judgment under SPC New Rules

Mon, 19 Sep 2022
Categories: China Legal Trends

On 11 Aug. 2022, the Beijing Fourth People’s Intermediate Court concluded the case of Lu and Wei’s application for recognition of a decree absolute of divorce rendered by the Hong Kong District Court.

This is the first time since the implementation of the “Arrangement of the Supreme People’s Court on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Civil Judgments in Matrimonial and Family Cases by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” (最高人民法院关于内地与香港特别行政区法院相互认可和执行婚姻家庭民事案件判决的安排, hereinafter referred to as “the Arrangement”) that Beijing has applied the Arrangement to recognize divorce judgments rendered by Hong Kong courts.

According to the Arrangement, 14 types of judgments in matrimonial and family cases made by Mainland courts can be applied for recognition and enforcement in Hong Kong, and vice versa for 12 types of such judgments rendered by Hong Kong courts.

On 12 Apr. 2022, the District Court of Hong Kong issued a “Certificate of Making Decree Nisi Absolute (Divorce)” in the divorce proceeding between Lu and Wei, thereby dissolving their marriage. Lu then requested the Beijing Fourth People’s Intermediate Court to recognize the above-mentioned decree absolute in accordance with law.

Upon examination, the Beijing Fourth People’s Intermediate Court held that the decree absolute at issue had conformed to the Arrangement’s definition of “effective judgments rendered by Hong Kong courts in civil matrimonial and family cases that can be recognized by the Mainland” without falling under any conditions that would prevent judgments from being recognized. Therefore, the Court ruled to recognize the above-mentioned decree absolute of divorce.

 

 

Cover Photo by Florian Wehde on Unsplash

Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team

Save as PDF

Related laws on China Laws Portal

You might also like

Beijing Court Reports on Foreign Judgments/Awards Enforcement

In December 2022, Beijing Fourth Intermediate People’s Court reported its work on foreign court judgment/arbitral awards enforcement cases. Since 2018, the court has accepted 332 cases, with the total amount in controversy reaching more than CNY 5 billion (approx. USD 740 million).

SPC Issues Policy on AI Judicial Application

In December 2022, China’s Supreme People’s Court issued the “Opinions on Regulating and Strengthening the Applications of Artificial Intelligence in the Judicial Fields” in both Chinese and English versions.