Refinement of Commercial Mediation Systems In The Greater Bay Area: From The Perspective Of Hong Kong’s Experience And Implications For The Mainland

Commercial mediation is regarded as one of the most significant parts of diversified dispute resolution mechanisms, since it has unique advantages compared with “adversarial” dispute resolution mechanisms, such as litigation and arbitration, particularly in cross-border disputes. With the support of official guidelines and the implementation of local governments, it is observed that mediation has become a popular alternative dispute resolution method applied by more and more citizens in the GBA. In addition, China became a member state of the Singapore Mediation Convention in 2019, which demonstrates that China attaches great importance to mediation mechanisms, with both academics and professionals recognizing the unique role of mediation in the process of dispute resolution. Against this backdrop, this article focuses on the implications of the Hong Kong experience to the development of commercial mediation in the Mainland, which revolves around four aspects: voluntariness of mediation activities, confidentiality rules, the enforceability of mediated settlement agreements and capacity building of mediators. Due to the great disparity in the development of commercial mediation in different GBA regions, particularly in terms of rule frameworks and patterns of mediation, this article argues that the future development in the GBA of commercial mediation can refer to the Hong Kong experience in the following four respects. Firstly, the principle of voluntariness should be enhanced in the conduct of commercial mediation; Secondly, provisions of confidentiality and detailed provisions for breaching the confidentiality principle should be formulated in commercial mediation; Thirdly, a uniform rule framework to govern the mutual recognition and enforcement of commercial mediated settlement agreements across the GBA should be provided. Last but not least, a uniform mediator evaluation system and a mediator qualification certification platform should be established in the Mainland.