Author(s)

Zheng Mingwei ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Beijing Zhongyin (Shenzhen) Law Firm, Shenzhen, 518000, China

Corresponding Author

Zheng Mingwei

ABSTRACT

Shenzhen and Chinese Hong Kong, both situated in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, have developed two distinct judicial models owing to their different historical trajectories, legal traditions and social needs. Shenzhen is grounded in people-centred justice, with an emphasis on easy access to courts, predictable costs, active use of judicial powers and effective enforcement of final judgments. Chinese Hong Kong, by contrast, continues the common law tradition, placing greater weight on procedure, lawyer-led litigation, strict cost allocation rules and party-driven proceedings. These differences are therefore not merely a matter of rules on paper, but of the way judicial services are delivered. In one model, the court more actively lowers barriers to access for the public; in the other, litigation depends more heavily on professional legal services and party choice. This article compares the two systems across access to courts, lawyers' fees, allocation of costs, leave to appeal, time limits, court-initiated evidence gathering, the burden of proof in administrative litigation and enforcement of final judgments, with a view to providing a more practice-oriented institutional framework for cross-border legal services in the Greater Bay Area.

KEYWORDS

Shenzhen; Chinese Hong Kong; People-centred justice; Elite justice; Civil litigation; Enforcement

CITE THIS PAPER

Zheng Mingwei. Differences between the Legal Systems of Shenzhen and Chinese Hong Kong through the Lens of People-centred Justice and Elite Justice: From Case Filing to Judgment Enforcement. Science of Law Journal (2026). Vol. 5, No. 2, 53-58. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/DOI: 10.23977/law.2026.050208.

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