MACAU SAR, CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Pedro Cortés and Luís Rôlo, Lektou
A qualified certificate should be issued by an accredited certification entity. If the certification entities based abroad or the certificates issued by the former are recognised in Macau by virtue of an instrument of international law or regional agreement, or if the certificates satisfy the other requirements specified by the Electronic Docu - ments and Signatures Law, these certificates are equivalent to the qualified certificates issued by the certification entity established in Macau. The information related to these certificates should be disclosed by the means deemed appropriate by the accredited authority of Macau, as well as made available to the interested parties. The use of electronic signatures may not be fea - sible when considering laws, regulations or con - ventions regarding the mandatory use of paper or other special forms of submitting, composing, transmitting or storing documents. Traditionally, these included: • notarial and registration acts; • procedural acts; • acts concerning personal legal relationships; • acts relating to tender procedures; and • situations in which the physical presence of the signatory or in-person signature recogni - tion is required. This situation is changing, with the government adopting an expanding range of electronic pro - cedures, under the policy of “e-Government”. Law No 13/2024 amended previous legislation in this area, providing, as a general rule, for the use of electronic means in public services, including electronic certificates and electronic identifica - tion of persons (e-Government and some court procedural acts).
Law No 11/2024 amended the Civil Registration Code, allowing for performance of registration acts by electronic means, including the elec - tronic identification of persons. Law No 18/2024 extended a similar approach to real estate and commercial registration and to notarial acts. Generally, residents may perform a significant number of acts next to the public authorities by electronic means, including electronic identifica - tion of persons. There is currently no specific legal or regulatory framework applicable to the gaming develop - ment industry in Macau. The gaming industry of Macau consists of the operation of games of chance in casinos and is regulated mainly by Law No 16/2001, as amend - ed by Law No 7/2022. Article 2(1(2)) of Law No 16/2001 defines “Inter - active games” as “games of chance in which: a) A cash prize or other value is offered or can be won according to the respective rules; b) A player enters or participates in the game through telecommunications means, namely through telephones, fax machines, internet access, data networks, video signal transmis - sion, or digital data transmission, and for this purpose makes, or agrees to make, payments in cash or any other value; and 9. Gaming Industry 9.1 Regulations
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