Hong Kong to host UNIDROIT’s first overseas liaison office next year

The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) will establish its Asia-Pacific liaison office in Hong Kong, marking the organization’s first overseas office outside its Rome headquarters in its 100-year history. Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok said the office is expected to open at the Hong Kong Legal Hub in the second half of 2026, a move that will further strengthen collaboration between the Department of Justice and UNIDROIT. The proposal to set up the office was submitted by the Hong Kong government to the UNIDROIT Secretariat with the support of the central government. In May this year, the UNIDROIT Governing Council expressed support for the proposal and recommended it to the General Assembly, which subsequently approved the recommendation on December 11. Lam said the establishment of the office represents a significant milestone in Hong Kong’s development as an international legal hub, reflecting continued confidence from the international community in the city’s legal system and reinforcing its position as a leading international legal center. He added that the new office could help facilitate coordination and generate synergies among the “three sisters of private international law” — UNIDROIT, the Hague Conference on Private International Law, and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law — all of which have a presence at the Hong Kong Legal Hub. UNIDROIT is an independent intergovernmental organization headquartered in Rome, with 65 member states across five continents. Its mandate is to examine ways to modernize, harmonize, and coordinate private and commercial law among states and groups of states, and to develop uniform legal instruments, principles, and rules to achieve these objectives. China has been a member of UNIDROIT since 1986, with Hong Kong participating in its work as part of the Chinese delegation.