MACAU SAR, CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: João Nuno Riquito, Bruno Almeida, Bernice Kwok and Daniel de Senna Fernandes, Riquito Advogados
4.7 Application/Motion Timeframe As general rule, final judgment shall be issued within 20 days from the closing of the final argu- ments, and decisions on other applications/ motions within ten days. But these deadlines are, in most cases, exceeded. Other specific rulings may be subject to differ- ent 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. Unlike most common law jurisdictions, pre- trial discovery procedure is not available in the Macau SAR; instead, certain mechanisms such as depositions, interrogatories, requests for pro- duction of documents, expert evidence and judi- cial inspection are available. These mechanisms, however, are not as wide- ranging 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 confession, 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 5. Discovery 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases
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 relevant 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 evi- dence and, in certain circumstances, may lead to an inversion of the burden of proof regarding certain 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 parties (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. 5.2 Discovery and Third Parties It is possible to obtain discovery from third par- ties not named as a plaintiff/claimant or defend- ant. In principle, as long as it is relevant to establishing the facts, any party who is aware of any facts, or is in possession of any evi- dence, is bound to co-operate with the court upon request, by providing witness statements or producing documents. Witness statements are provided during the trial hearing. The witness list is submitted along with the initial pleading or modified after the court has issued the decision regarding the classification of proven facts and facts to be proven by con- sidering the submissions of both parties (until 30 days before the hearing). The witnesses are identified by their names, professions, address- es and other necessary circumstances.
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