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Adjudication has evidently enjoyed considerable success in the UK and is to be
encouraged from the point of view of procedural reform. However, whether such a
system should be adopted in Hong Kong raises policy questions going beyond issues
of civil justice reform. In the context of the construction industry, it involves
addressing the countervailing interests of employers, contractors, sub-contractors,
professionals and others concerned in conjunction with general government policy in
the field. The Working Party notes that the Report of the Construction Industry
Review Committee dated January 2001 recommended that :-
"Proactive and collaborative ways of dispute resolution should be encouraged through the
adoption in contracts of provisions which facilitate the resolution of disputes by means of
alternative dispute resolution techniques (such as use of a dispute resolution adviser and/or
dispute resolution board) in addition to formal and binding adjudication means which will
remain necessary, but last resort solution."
While the Working Party supports such initiatives in principle, the development of
specialised construction contract dispute resolution mechanisms must be left to
stakeholders in the construction industry.
Recommendation 139: Proposal 63 (for introducing mandatory mediation by
statutory rule) should not be adopted, without prejudice to any initiatives within
the construction industry for the adoption of statutory adjudication.
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