Shanghai’s legal system has significantly improved over the last three decades, making it a friendly place for international trade and investment, according to Peter Corne, a senior Australian lawyer who serves as an arbitrator and mediator in Shanghai.
Shortly after the Spring Festival in 1996, Corne, now 62, arrived in the city and started working for a British law firm, which received permission to establish an office on the Chinese mainland.
“My firm relocated me from Hong Kong to Shanghai. That was the best time for foreign law offices. Lots of foreign companies were coming to invest here, with demands for services in many legal areas relating to contracts and negotiations,” he said.
Local firms rapidly developed with lawyers who had studied abroad or worked in foreign law offices.
Ti Gong
Peter Corne is a senior Australian lawyer who serves as a mediator in Shanghai.
Corne said China’s legal system has become much more predictable, complete, logical, and transparent, with standards of Chinese lawyers, courts, judges, and specialization all improving rapidly over time.
“After China joined the WTO, the Ministry of Commerce started to publish all of those documents, so that made the situation much more transparent,” he said.
Shanghai has also published its “Collection of Rules and Regulations of Shanghai City” online in Chinese, English, Japanese, German and French.
“It’s important that people in foreign countries understand the depth of the improvements of the Chinese legal system because they get a lot of media reporting that suggests China is some sort of backward country, and the reality is far from the case.
“China, even more so than other countries, sends experts to research the best of other countries’ laws. They’re always studying to see which laws are the best and how they are implemented in other countries. And they choose those legal tools that best suit China.”
It’s important that people in foreign countries understand the depth of the improvements of the Chinese legal system because they get a lot of media reporting that suggests China is some sort of backward country, and the reality is far from the case.
Peter Corne
He also pointed out that Shanghai has been a pioneer in piloting reforms in China, especially its China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, where a lot of the experimentation is applied first before becoming adopted more generally around the country.
“I’ve seen a lot of innovation in the area of law, such as the integrated dispute resolution window in the courts that was first tried out in the FTZ,” he said.
Corne developed a particular interest in arbitration and mediation as early as his university studies in Australia in the 1980s. However, upon his arrival in Shanghai in 1996, while arbitration was relatively well developed, he found limited opportunities for engaging in international commercial mediation.
Corne become more and more involved in arbitration, culminating in him contributing to, what was at that time for China, revolutionary new arbitration rules for the new Shanghai FTZ Arbitration Court in 2013 which became a model for other arbitration institutions throughout China. Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission incorporated best practices from arbitration institutions throughout the world such as emergency arbitration, a simplified accelerated procedure and the appointment of arbitrators not on the Shanghai FTZ Arbitration Court’s panel.
“For mediation, I was really waiting for the opportunity. I found it when the Shanghai Commercial Mediation Center opened in 2012 and invited me to join,” he said.
In 2017, he received the prestigious Shanghai Magnolia Silver Award for his contributions to the city, primarily in dispute resolution in the FTZ. He has not only served as a mediator but also contributed to the drafting of some of the rules.
The “integrated dispute resolution” window at the FTZ Court gives the disputants an opportunity to choose either of those or litigation to solve their dispute. This gives great flexibility to the parties.
Peter Corne
Corne explained that both arbitration and commercial mediation are attractive options in China. The “integrated dispute resolution” window at the FTZ Court gives the disputants an opportunity to choose either of those or litigation to solve their dispute. This gives great flexibility to the parties.
He said that mediation is a convenient, speedy, and economical way to resolve disputes, as the parties can quickly come to a settlement before litigation or arbitration starts, saving both time and money.
“Mediation is especially suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises,” he said.
Corne still remembers clearly helping the FTZ Arbitration Court with its first two foreign related arbitration cases, as well as the very first mediated foreign related case in the FTZ Court. The mediated case was about a delayed transfer of equity interests between two German parties. Corne finally mediated a settlement where both sides to agree to phased payments over six months.
These cases were seen as landmarks in the development of the zone, which is home to many foreign firms and individual businesses and seeks to be a leader in modern global commerce.
Since then, more and more foreigners are participating in the resolution of foreign-related commercial disputes in the city.
Corne said he is glad to witness the improvements in the dispute resolution system in Shanghai year by year and the increasing parties from different countries.
“It’s a recognition of the good work you’ve been doing in the past 10 years, and I’m very happy to be in a position where I can continue to see such improvements over the coming years.”
,https://www.shine.cn/news/metro/2412031382/