MACAU SAR, CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: João Nuno Riquito, Bruno Almeida and Daniel de Senna Fernandes, Riquito Advogados
a lawsuit, thus assuming the position of main parties, or parties ancillary to the main parties. Interested parties who share the same interest as the plaintiff or defendant may intervene as a main party at their own initiative or at the request of any existing (main) parties. Third parties against whom the defendant may have a reimbursement right, and who may have a justified interest that the final decision be favourable to one of the parties, may intervene as ancillary parties. A third party may also request to join a lawsuit to claim their own right, which may be fully or partially incom- patible with the claim of the plaintiff or the defendant. 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs There is no specified motion for security for the defendant’s costs, although it may be awarded sub- ject to particulars. 4.6 Costs of Interim Applications/Motions Generally, the parties are requested to make a deposit for part of the fees and costs applicable to the claim and counterclaim, appeals and other submissions. Besides the deposit for expenses, applicants and respondents shall be liable for 25% of the following applicable fees: • initial deposit (due upon submission of the applica- tion); and • deposit for trial (due upon the scheduling of the trial, or before the issuance of a written decision). 4.7 Application/Motion Timeframe As general rule, final judgment shall be issued with- in 20 days from the closing of the final arguments, and decisions on other applications/motions within ten days. But these deadlines are, in most cases, exceeded. Other specific rulings may be subject to different deadlines (eg, injunctive relief shall be issued within two months or 15 days, the latter when issued ex parte).
Either party can request that the application be dealt with on an urgent basis if the circumstance gives grounds for such urgency.
5. Discovery 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases
Unlike most common law jurisdictions, pre-trial dis- covery procedure is not available in the Macau SAR; instead, certain mechanisms such as depositions, interrogatories, requests for production of documents, expert evidence and judicial inspection are available. These mechanisms, however, are not as wide-rang- ing as those in common law jurisdictions, nor do they follow the same rules. In principle, each party has the burden to state and produce relevant facts and evidence, in as detailed a manner as possible, since amendments after submissions encounter significant limitations. Depositions are used to obtain the other party’s con- fession, whereas interrogatories are used to produce witness evidence, both being provided orally during the trial hearing. Requests for the production of documents may be addressed to the other party(ies) and to non-parties in acknowledgment of possession. It is necessary to identify the document(s) and their relevance to the case before the court will issue an order to the rel- evant party to surrender such documents. Refusal to co-operate may be sanctioned with fines, without prejudicing other compulsory measures. A refusal by litigants will be evaluated by the court in the light of the evidence and, in certain circumstances, may lead to an inversion of the burden of proof regarding cer- tain facts. If the party claims that it does not hold the requested document, the applicant has the burden of demonstrating that this claim is false. Discovery mechanisms shall be requested by the par- ties (any parties) and are administered by the court, provided that they do not offend anyone’s physical or moral integrity or pose an intrusion to their private life, including their domicile, correspondence and any other forms of communication.
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