HkHong Kong’s barristers are opposing key UK-style reforms designed to cut litigation and force alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in the former British colony.

Although the Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA) has given some backing to the reforms, proposed by the Hong Kong chief justice in November 2001, it is opposing moves to enforce ADR and limit the right of appeal. Both measures are central to the package, which is modelled on the UK’s Woolf reforms of civil justice.