MACAU SAR, CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: João Nuno Riquito, Bruno Almeida and Daniel de Senna Fernandes, Riquito Advogados
• the Courts of First Instance, which include the Judicial Base Court and the Administrative Court; • the Court of Second Instance; and • the Court of Final Appeal. The Judicial Base Court is organised into different sections, based on the types of matters considered (two pre-trial criminal sections, five criminal sections, three civil sections, one small claims civil section, one labour section and one family section). The civil sec- tions have general competence to try any matters that do not fall within the specific matters attributed to any other sections. The Administrative Court is competent for matters of administrative law, taxation and customs. The Court of Second Instance and the Court of Final Appeal are, as a matter of principle, courts of appeal. The Court of Second Instance is primarily a court of appeal and reviews the decisions from the Courts of First Instance (both the Judicial Base Court and the Administrative Court). It encompasses two sections: • a criminal section, which reviews criminal matters; and • a general section, which reviews all other matters. The Court of Final Appeal is the highest court in the hierarchy, and its primary competencies are to review appeals from decisions of the Court of Second Instance and to standardise jurisprudence. It is cur- rently composed of only one section with a panel of three judges, with competence to review all matters. Exceptionally, however, the Court of Second Instance and the Court of Final Appeal may serve as courts of first instance in relation to certain matters, or in certain matters involving certain entities that benefit from a forum privilege. 1.3 Court Filings and Proceedings The proceedings are open to the public, save as oth- erwise provided by law. This does not mean, however, that any person can inspect the proceedings. Law- yers have the ability to inspect any proceedings and obtain copies. The parties may inspect their own pro- ceedings and obtain copies. Other than that, all other
persons must have a legitimate reason to access the contents of the court filings and proceedings. The court hearings are, however, in principle, entirely public and any person may attend. The court may (on its own initiative or by request of any of the parties), exceptionally, establish limitations on the public nature of the proceedings and hearings when the matters involved may offend the parties’ or other persons’ dignity, their privacy, public policy or undermine the effectiveness of the decision to be issued. The law expressly states that certain proceed- ings (such as marriage annulment, divorce, filiation, and injunction) may only be accessed and inspected by the parties and their attorneys. Pending injunction proceedings, which should be decided ex parte, may only be inspected by the applicant and its attorneys until the decision is taken. Criminal proceedings and hearings, on the other hand, should remain secret during the investigation and pre-trial stages, shifting to public (with the mean- ing referred to above) once they are submitted to trial and the trial hearing date is scheduled, thus allowing any person to attend the hearings, save when, excep- tionally, restrictions are imposed to preserve people’s dignity, public policy and public order. The hearing in which the verdict is to be announced is always public. 1.4 Legal Representation in Court Legal representation in court is required for most cases. Civil actions with a tax value exceeding MOP100,000, appeals, proceedings initiated in the higher courts, and enforcement proceedings exceeding MOP1 mil- lion or (in cases where objections are raised or any other issues require the declaration form of procedure) enforcement proceedings exceeding MOP100,000, always require legal representation. In administrative actions and criminal proceedings, legal representation is always required. Only lawyers admitted to the Macau Lawyers Asso- ciation (irrespective of their nationality) are allowed to represent the parties in a court of law. All lawyers
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