Nomination Exercise
According to the announcement by the Department of Justice of the HKSAR Government, the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) Arbitrators Nomination Exercise (Hong Kong) (“Nomination Exercise (Hong Kong)”) for the Panel of GBA Arbitrators (“Panel”) has now been launched. As one of the designated institutions by the DoJ, the South China International Arbitration Center (HK) (SCIAHK) is authorized to submit a list of recommended candidates for inclusion in the Panel. The SCIAHK is currently accepting applications under the Nomination Exercise (Hong Kong).
The Nomination Exercise (Hong Kong) follows the Working Guidelines on the Panel of GBA Arbitrators (“Working Guidelines”) endorsed by the sixth GBA Legal Departments Joint Conference (“Joint Conference”) on 18 November 2024. In Hong Kong, interested individuals in participating in the Nomination Exercise (Hong Kong) must submit an online application form, along with the supporting documents and supplementary information on or before 29 August 2025. Each applicant can only submit one application in each round of application. If an applicant is on the list of arbitrators of more than one designated Institution, the applicant is only required to submit application to any one of these designated institutions. In the event of duplicate applications, all such applications will not be processed.
The SCIAHK will conduct preliminary vetting of all application forms received along with the supporting documents and supplementary information for the DoJ's review.
Fulfilment of all criteria for nomination does not guarantee that such persons will be listed in the Panel. The DoJ will consider the overall circumstances of each application, including factors such as the seniority, experience and reputation of the applicant as an arbitrator, to ensure that the nominated arbitrators have appropriate level of professional qualifications and capabilities. Reviewed lists from the three places would be submitted to the Joint Conference for endorsement to form the Panel.
The selection and appointment of arbitrators to the Panel is subject to the final decision and endorsement of the Joint Conference.
A reminder: Applicants who wish to participate in the Nomination Exercise (Hong Kong) and are already listed on either the SCIAHK or the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA)’s Panel of Arbitrators may only submit their application through the SCIAHK. If an applicant intends to apply via the SCIA for participation in the non-Hong Kong part of the nomination exercise, please stay tuned for further details to be announced by the SCIA.
Criteria
According to Article 1 of the Working Guidelines, an arbitrator who fulfills the below criteria is eligible to be nominated to be listed on the Panel:
“(1) Upholding the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China;
(2) Possessing good professional ethics with no record of disciplinary action for negative reputation or professional misconduct;
(3) Being included in the list of arbitrators by arbitral institutions in two out of the three places, namely Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao;
(4) Possessing more than 5 years of experience as an arbitrator;
(5) Having served as an arbitrator and drafted awards for at least 5 arbitration cases, of which at least 3 were cross-jurisdictional arbitration cases;
(6) Proficient in Putonghua (or Cantonese) and at least one language other than Chinese.
The Joint Conference may, depending on the actual circumstances of the nominated arbitrator, exercise its discretion to waive one or more of the requirement(s) among items (3) to (6) above.”
According to Article 8 of the Working Guidelines, the below words are defined as follows:
““drafted” refers to arbitral awards which are drafted in the capacity of a sole arbitrator or to which one has contributed as a member of the arbitral tribunal;
“awards” refers to final awards, and do not include interim awards, interlocutory awards, or partial awards;
“cross-jurisdictional arbitration cases” refers to arbitration cases in which the parties and/or the subject matter(s) in dispute involve more than one jurisdiction.”
Posted on 22 August 2025
