Arrangement for mutual service of judicial documents in civil and commercial cases between Hong Kong and Macao comes into force on August 1
​In accordance with the Rules of the High Court (Amendment) Rules 2020 and the Rules of the District Court (Amendment) Rules 2020, the Arrangement for Mutual Service of Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Cases between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region (the Arrangement) will come into force on August 1.
"The Arrangement serves to provide an official channel for Hong Kong to make outgoing requests to Macao for service of judicial documents in civil and commercial proceedings," a Government spokesman said.
The entry into force of the Arrangement will provide certainty and ensure efficiency in the service of such judicial documents between the two places. The Arrangement has set out clear procedures for service of judicial documents, such as direct transmission of requests between courts of the two Special Administrative Regions, specifying the types of judicial documents that can be entrusted for service, and the information and language required of requests. The Arrangement also requires that the court of the requested party shall endeavour to complete the requests for service within two months and issue certificate of service indicating whether the judicial documents have been served on the relevant parties. The full text of the Arrangement is available at the Department of Justice website (www.doj.gov.hk/eng/mainland/intracountry.html).