Proof-of-Foreign Law Issues in Greater Bay Area

With each of the mainland, Macau, and Hong Kong having separate legal systems, choice-of-law is an important issue for inter-regional and international transactions. Proof of foreign law is a crucial step in this choice-of-law process and thus essential to the success of the Greater Bay Area. This article first outlines the choice-of-law process under the mainland law and highlights the various special conflict of laws rules applicable to the mainland courts in the Greater Bay Area. It then presents the survey on the judicial practices of these courts regarding proof of foreign law. Based on the findings of this survey, it is suggested that courts of Hong Kong and mainland should work on establishing a judicial assistance channel to facilitate proof of foreign law in the future.