MACAU SAR, CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: João Nuno Riquito, Bruno Almeida, Bernice Kwok and Daniel de Senna Fernandes, Riquito Advogados
notification to the debtor before starting legal action), as it serves the purpose of converting a situation of delay into a case of non-perfor- mance of an obligation. 3.2 Statutes of Limitations The standard statute of limitation to start a civil suit in the Macau SAR is 15 years, but for certain specific rights or entitlements (eg, lease rents, interest or dividends) a shorter statute of five years applies. There is a special set of statutes, the lapse of which does not prevent the plaintiff from bring- ing the claim to court but renders the perfor- mance of the relevant obligation as presumed. This presumption is only waived with the confes- sion of the non-performance of the obligation by the debtor. In general, these statutes are of six months (for credits held by housing, food and beverage businesses and for payments related to housing, food and beverages only) and two years (for credits held by self-employed profes- sionals, for example). 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant The general factors that determine the compe- tence of the Macau SAR courts for a civil suit are the following: • some or all of the facts that substantiate the claim involve actions that were performed in the Macau SAR; • the defendant is a non-resident and the plaintiff a resident, but only if, in abstract terms, the courts of the defendant’s country of residency would be competent to judge similar proceedings if they were started in that jurisdiction by the defendant against the plaintiff; and
• the right or entitlement being claimed can only be effective by means of legal action started in the Macau SAR, provided that there is a strong connection between the proceed- ings and the jurisdiction, in terms of the people or the assets involved. The Macau SAR courts’ competence for certain types of actions is subject to other requisites (eg, they are competent for proceedings for the recovery of debts if the obligation is to be per- formed in the Macau SAR or the defendant is domiciled in the Macau SAR). The Macau SAR courts have exclusive com- petence to try legal proceedings, in respect of erga omnes rights, over real estate located in the Macau SAR and in respect of the bankruptcy or insolvency of entities which have their registered A lawsuit is initiated by submitting a statement of claim ( petição inicial ), which identifies the court where the action is filed, the parties (including their names and domicile), and the adopted form of proceeding, and describes the facts and legal grounds of the claim, its request(s) and tax val- ue. At this stage, the plaintiff should append all fact-supporting documents to the statement of claims, present the list of witnesses and request other evidence to be produced. The party can submit additional statements ( articulado superveniente ) if any ulterior fact constitutes, modifies or extinguishes the rights in discussion. 3.5 Rules of Service Typically, when no grounds for preliminary rejection of statement of claim are found, the defendant will be summoned, by means of dou - office in the Macau SAR. 3.4 Initial Complaint
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