Hong Kong chief John Lee Ka-chiu mentioned the physique’s standing can be on par with the UN’s Worldwide Courtroom of Justice.
The Chinese language authorities has signed a conference establishing a global mediation organisation positioned in Hong Kong, with Beijing hoping it’s going to rival the International Court of Justice (ICJ) because the world’s main battle decision physique.
The Conference on the Institution of the Worldwide Organisation for Mediation (IOMed) was signed into regulation on Friday, in a ceremony presided over by Chinese language Minister of International Affairs Wang Yi in Hong Kong.
The ceremony was attended by representatives from a number of nations, together with Indonesia, Pakistan, Laos, Cambodia and Serbia. Representatives from 20 worldwide our bodies, together with the United Nations, additionally attended the ceremony, in line with Hong Kong’s RTHK public broadcaster.
A video proven on the signing ceremony mentioned the scope of circumstances dealt with by the physique would come with disputes between nations, between a rustic and nationals of one other nation, and between non-public worldwide entities.
Beijing plans for the physique to cement Hong Kong’s presence as a high international mediation hub, because it hopes to bolster the town’s waning worldwide credentials.
In an un-bylined opinion piece printed in China’s state-run International Occasions newspaper, IOMed was described because the “world’s first intergovernmental worldwide authorized organisation devoted to resolving worldwide disputes via mediation”.
IOMed would fill a “crucial hole in mechanisms centered on mediation-based dispute decision”, it mentioned.
“The institution of the Worldwide Organisation for Mediation marks a milestone in international governance and highlights the worth of resolving conflicts in an ‘amicable means’,” it added.
The ICJ – the principal judicial organ of the UN, also referred to as the World Courtroom – is at present the highest physique for fixing authorized disputes between member states in accordance with worldwide regulation. It additionally gives advisory opinions on authorized questions referred to it by UN our bodies.
Hong Kong Chief Government John Lee Ka-chiu mentioned this week that IOMed’s standing can be on par with the UN our bodies the ICJ and the Everlasting Courtroom of Arbitration in The Hague.
Lee mentioned it might additionally assist carry “substantial” financial advantages and job alternatives, in addition to stimulate varied sectors together with hospitality and transport, to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has skilled sustained economic stagnation since its handover again to Chinese language rule in 1997 after greater than a century and a half as a British colony.
Investor confidence has been rocked by Beijing’s rising management over all elements of life within the territory – together with the economic system – whereas gloom additionally persists concerning the state of China’s post-pandemic restoration.
In an opinion piece printed within the South China Morning Submit, Hong Kong’s Justice Secretary Paul Lam mentioned IOMed would assist Hong Kong deal with challenges offered by “hostile exterior forces” which are “trying to de-internationalise and de-functionalise” it.
“To deal with such a problem, Hong Kong must make good use of the IOMed headquarters as a spotlight for strengthening the town as a global dispute decision centre, in order to provide full play to its institutional benefits underneath the ‘one nation, two methods’ framework,” Lam mentioned, referring to China’s mannequin of governing Hong Kong, which nominally permits it a stage of autonomy.
The IOMed headquarters, because of open by the top of this 12 months or in early 2026, can be positioned at a former police station in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district.
