Mainland China and the Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao SAR) can take interim measures regarding each other’s arbitral proceedings.
On 25 Feb. 2022, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) issued the “Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Macao Special Administrative Region” (hereinafter “the Arrangement”, 关于内地与澳门特别行政区就仲裁程序相互协助保全的安排), with effect on 25 March 2022.
More specifically, the Arrangement, consisting of 12 articles, clarifies the following content.
- Types of interim measures
The “preservation measures” in the Arrangement, also known as “interim measures” in common law jurisdictions, include, in the case of the Mainland, preservation of property, preservation of evidence and preservation of conduct; and, in the case of the Macao SAR, preservation or precautionary measures for the purpose of ensuring the realization of threatened rights.
- Applicable arbitral proceedings
The cases subject to “mutual assistance in interim measures” shall be civil or commercial arbitration administered by arbitral institutions in the Macao SAR in accordance with the Arbitration Law of the Macao SAR or by arbitral institutions in the Mainland in accordance with the “Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China” (中华人民共和国仲裁法).
Ad hoc arbitration proceedings, as well as those administered by other national and regional arbitration institutions, are excluded from the scope of applicable arbitral proceedings.
Cover Photo by Jimmy Woo on Unsplash
Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
