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Case 108: MAL 1(3)(b)(ii); 8(1)
Hong Kong: High Court of Hong Kong (Leonard J.)
4 May 1995
D. Heung & Associates, Architects & Engineers v. Pacific Enterprises (Holdings) Company Limited
Original in English
Unpublished
(Abstract prepared by N. Kaplan, Q.C.)
The plaintiff, a Hong Kong company, appointed by the defendant, also a Hong Kong company, as the architect for the entire design of a project in Dongshan Island, China, sued claiming agreed professional fees due by the defendant. The defendant sought a stay of the court proceedings under article 8 MAL and submission of the dispute to arbitration, since their agreement contained an arbitration clause.
The issue was whether, despite the fact that both parties were Hong Kong companies and that the contract was to be partly performed in Hong Kong, an "international arbitration agreement" in the meaning of article 1(3)(b)(ii) was involved. The court found that the subject matter of the dispute was most closely connected to the project in Dongshan, China, and that a substantial part of the defendant's duties related to the entire design and supervision of that project.
The court, noting that article 8(1) MAL was mandatory in its nature, stayed the
proceedings, since no party had suggested that the arbitration agreement was null and void
or inoperative or incapable of being performed, and in view of the fact that the
plaintiff's claim was disputed by the defendant.
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