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Hong Kong CFI on AO Sch 2 appeals: spectrum approach to foreign law as a ‘question of law’; high merits threshold; consider opting in when drafting arbitration clauses

Published on: 11 November 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Arbitration expert
Legal News
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Article summary

CI v IU [2025] HKCFI 4397

What are the practical implications of this case?

This ruling underscores the stringent bar for obtaining leave to appeal under sections 5 and 6 of Schedule 2 to the AO, reinforcing the Hong Kong court’s arbitration-friendly stance. More importantly, it delivers long-anticipated guidance on whether the court’s jurisdiction to entertain an appeal on a ‘question of law’ is restricted to Hong Kong law issues. Unlike the English regime, which expressly confines a ‘question of law’ to ‘a question of the law of England and Wales’, the Hong Kong court, albeit in obiter, adopted a broader and adaptable outlook here. Advancing a spectrum concept, the court differentiated between genuinely ‘exotic’ governing laws and foreign laws that closely resemble Hong Kong law (as in this dispute). How the Hong Kong courts will approach a question of law rooted in a genuinely ‘exotic’ legal system is left open for resolution on another day. It is likewise uncertain whether this reasoning will attract adherence in subsequent cases. Overall, the ruling tightens the leave gateway and sketches a open approach to foreign law...

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