AI and global co-operation set the agenda at Hong Kong Legal Week 2025

A Hong Kong-based start-up founded by practising lawyers displayed an AI assistant developed specifically for local procedures, offering transcription, document preparation and workflow automation that reduce the time practitioners spend on repetitive tasks.

Another home-grown legal tech company serving both professionals and the public presented tools for AI-supported legal analysis and document creation trained on Hong Kong law and case precedents that give users a clearer starting point before consulting a lawyer.

Other exhibitors demonstrated their systems designed to support daily operations, including hearing transcription tools, document-assembly software, electronic bundling utilities, case-management platforms and secure data-handling solutions.

The LawTech Conference and the LexGoTech Roundtable Series

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam, SC, articulated Hong Kong’s direction on AI, acknowledging its potential while underlining the continued importance of human judgement and ethical reflection. He said Hong Kong should adopt a Human-plus-AI approach as technology becomes more integrated into legal work.

The Chief Executive’s 2025 Policy Address identified AI as a core industry for Hong Kong’s development, according to Mr Lam. To advance this agenda, the DoJ will form an interdepartmental working group by year-end to review legislation needed to support wider AI deployment across sectors.

In the legal domain, the DoJ is pursuing a three-stage strategy: raising awareness, encouraging hands-on engagement with tools and cultivating a full ecosystem that attracts both local and international lawtech enterprises.

Deputy Secretary for Justice Dr Cheung Kwok-kwan remarked that lawtech and AI are no longer distant concepts and are already influencing how legal professionals research, draft and analyse. Automating routine tasks, he added, allows practitioners to concentrate on judgement, advocacy and client care.

Dr Cheung also raised questions that guided the discussion and further noted that the key issue is how AI should be integrated into legal work with care, including where human oversight should sit and how technology can be used without compromising professional duties.

The Conference also hosted the 2025 Final Round of the LexGoTech Roundtable Series, the culmination of a year-long dialogue among practitioners and legal educators on the opportunities and risks of lawtech.

The DoJ released the LexGoTech Roundtables Report during the event. The publication captured a shared view that technology can improve efficiency and widen access to legal services, but also recorded deep concerns about accuracy, data protection and professional accountability.

International programmes: digital justice and judicial co-operation

As well as its lawtech focus, Hong Kong Legal Week 2025 showcased the city’s established strength in fostering international legal exchange. The opening half of the Week featured programmes drawing participants from courts, multilateral bodies and legal institutions across Asia-Pacific and beyond.

The Week opened with the Sixth UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Judicial Summit, co-organised with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law. The full-day Judicial Conference explored end-to-end digitalisation in trade, transport and dispute resolution, from electronic transferable records and digital trade finance to the treatment of digital assets and the growth of online dispute resolution. Senior judges and officials from more than 25 jurisdictions attended.

This edition also marked the first anniversary of the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy (HKILTTA). To commemorate the milestone, the DoJ published the Academy’s Anniversary Booklet 2024-2025, recapping the Academy’s achievements in judicial training and capacity building for Hong Kong, Chinese Mainland and jurisdictions along the Belt and Road.

Further judicial exchange followed at the Judicial Roundtable, where judges discussed “Recent Trends in Dispute Resolution”, including the rise of AI-related disputes and the evolving relationship between alternative dispute resolution and the courts.

Discussions on multilateralism and emerging technologies, as well as their relevance to the development of international law, continued at the Third Legal Forum on Interconnectivity and Development, co-organised with the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the HKSAR.

The Symposium of the HCCH Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific then examined “Transnational Litigation & Apostille: Innovating Practices under the HCCH Conventions”, including modernisation under the Hague Apostille, Service and Evidence Conventions and Hong Kong’s progress with digital Apostilles and remote evidence taking.

Later that day, the Capital of Mediation event explored Hong Kong’s mature mediation culture. Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said Hong Kong “serves as a neutral bridge between civil law and common law systems.”

One major topic of the event was the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed), headquartered in Hong Kong and described during the Forum as a long-needed institution for mediating disputes between states and investor-state parties.

With the Mediation Ordinance, Apology Ordinance, Practice Direction 31, Integrated Mediation Offices and the “Mediate First” Pledge campaign, the city has built a strong settlement focused culture, and the presence of IOMed now adds an international dimension.

Further developments: constitutional clarity and GBA connectivity

The Basic Law 35th Anniversary Legal Summit, held on Constitution Day, revisited how the Constitution and Basic Law form the constitutional foundation of the HKSAR. Speakers from finance, aviation, trade and higher education examined how these frameworks have supported Hong Kong’s status as a leading centre for commerce and talent.

The First Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Lawyers Forum brought practitioners together to discuss the rising importance of GBA lawyers. The Forum also witnessed the launch of the GBA Lawyers Organization, which will support training, liaison and research across the region’s three jurisdictions.

With HKILTTA entering its second year, lawtech adoption building momentum and institutions such as IOMed and the GBA Lawyers Organization taking root, Hong Kong is helping to steer legal development across the region and beyond while reinforcing its role as an international legal and dispute resolution services centre for a more digital and connected future.