| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article analyses the exclusion of the rule of law in dispute settlement from trade relations between Mainland China and Hong Kong. Other than a power-based provision to resolve any problems through consultation, the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region does not contain any rules or procedures for the settlement of disputes between the two sides. The politicization of dispute settlement favours the freedom of informality but compromises certainty of implementation, efficiency of consistency, and transparency of justice, all necessary for further and fairer trade creation and economic integration. This article, therefore, calls for the rule of law in trade relations between Mainland China and Hong Kong with a proposal for a quasi-adjudicative dispute settlement mechanism for CEPA that complements the political framework for consultation and negotiation with an adjudicative framework for arbitration and implementation.
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