Exclusive | UK open to Hong Kong lawyers registering as arbitrators: Bar Association chief
Hong Kong can beat London to become the world’s preferred seat for arbitration some day, Jose-Antonio Maurellet says
The United Kingdom has extended a welcome to Hong Kong’s barristers to register as arbitrators in its database because of their common law background and experience in handling Asian cases, the head of the city’s Bar Association has said.
The senior counsel was speaking after attending a service in the British capital to mark the start of the legal year in England and Wales. He was there in his capacity as chairman of the association, the professional body for the city’s barristers.
The annual ceremony was held in London’s historic Westminster Abbey, with invitations extended to leading legal practitioners from other jurisdictions. It drew around 100 participants from about 40 jurisdictions.
Maurellet said that during an official visit to the London Court of International Arbitration ahead of the ceremony, he was told that almost one-fifth of its cases came from Asia in some years.
“We asked them whether they would be interested in our members expressing interest … They were very positive about our members applying to be considered to be on their database,” he said.