MACAU SAR, CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: João Nuno Riquito, Bruno Almeida and Daniel de Senna Fernandes, Riquito Advogados
Notwithstanding a general deadline of 20 days to issue the final judgment, counted from the day of clos- ing of arguments, this deadline is in general exceeded by the courts.
settle the matter subject to the previous proceedings on a different manner.
9. Damages and Judgment 9.1 Awards Available to the Successful Litigant In civil declaratory proceedings, the court will: • declare the existence of the claimant’s rights or entitlements; • order the defendant to perform an action or fulfil a legal or contractual obligation; or • declare the constitution, modification or annulment of a particular legal relationship, contract or act. Depending on the nature and particulars of the claim, the court may order remedies such as indemnity, com- pensation, or restitution of assets or monies. In certain circumstances, the court may also determine the payment by the defendant of a certain amount for each day, week or month of delay in the performance of a certain action (or omission) or the fulfilment of a certain obligation. 9.2 Rules Regarding Damages As general rule under the Macau SAR law, a success- ful party cannot be awarded in excess of the dam- ages suffered as a result of breach of legal or con- tractual rights or obligations. The scope of indemnity is defined by causation: it comprehends any and all damages that were caused by the relevant illegal and faulty actions (principle of adequate causation). Both losses – which include pecuniary damages ( danos patrimoniais ) and personal damages ( danos não patrimonais ) – and loss of profits (which is the net increase of the claimant’s assets that they fail to obtain due to the injury event) are included in the legal scope of indemnity. Losses and loss of profits can be present or future, but the latter are only subject to indemnity when it can be established that they will effectively occur in the future (if the respective amount cannot be determined at the time of the issuing of the award, its liquidation shall be
8. Settlement 8.1 Court Approval
The parties may choose to settle their differences before the judge or out of court, in which case they must, however, communicate this agreement to the court and discontinue the proceedings. In any event, the judge needs to endorse the settlement by confirm- ing each party’s capacity to settle and whether the matter under discussion is available for settlement. 8.2 Settlement of Lawsuits and Confidentiality If a settlement is reached between the parties before the judge, as well as if its terms are communicated to the judge for endorsement, they will become part of the proceedings and therefore subject to the general rules and principles alluded to in 1.3 Court Filings and Proceedings and 7.6 Extent to Which Hearings Are Open to the Public , regarding publicity. The par- ties may, however, choose to keep certain terms and conditions of the settlement confidential. 8.3 Enforcement of Settlement Agreements Settlement agreements are enforceable under the general terms and provisions of the Macau SAR Code of Civil Procedure. The terms for enforcement will depend on whether the terms of the settlement were disclosed in full, or only in part, to the court. If the matter to be enforced was endorsed by the court, the enforcement will follow the rules of enforcement of court decisions; if not, it will follow the rules for enforcement of contracts. 8.4 Setting Aside Settlement Agreements Settlement agreements endorsed by the court as res judicata may only be set aside by an extraordinary appeal, whereby the settlement will be declared null and void as a result of the res judicata ruling. The above does not prevent the parties from reach- ing an out-of-court agreement whereby they agree to
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