MACAU SAR, CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: João Nuno Riquito, Bruno Almeida, Bernice Kwok and Daniel de Senna Fernandes, Riquito Advogados
basis by default, irrespective of any risk to the effectiveness of the measure. 6.4 Liability for Damages for the Applicant If the injunctive relief is found to be unjustified or expires because of an action or omission attributable to the applicant, they will be liable for damages suffered by the respondent if the court finds that they (the applicant) did not act with the required prudence. Therefore, irrespective of a request by the respondent, the judge may award the relief, sub- ject to the provision of bond by the applicant. 6.5 Respondent’s Worldwide Assets and Injunctive Relief Subject to their competence for the main pro- ceedings (multiple factors or circumstances jus- tify the competence of the local courts), injunc- tive relief can be requested and awarded by the Macau SAR courts. Enforcement of injunctive relief awarded by the Macau SAR courts in foreign jurisdictions depends on international conventions or agree- ments for judicial co-operation and recognition of judicial or arbitration decisions, between the Macau SAR and those jurisdictions. 6.6 Third Parties and Injunctive Relief Under special circumstances, injunctive relief measures may be awarded against individuals or entities who are not parties to the main pro- ceedings to which the injunctive relief is ancillary (third parties). This will be the case when the assets to be arrested are in the possession of an individual who is not the debtor. This third party will be a respondent to the injunctive relief proceedings, but not to the main proceedings
where the claimant will be requesting that the court convict the defendant to settle the debt. 6.7 Consequences of a Respondent’s Non-compliance Breach of injunctive relief entails criminal liability for qualified disobedience, which is subject to imprisonment for up to two years, or criminal fine of up to 240 days. A day-fine is a criminal sanction used as an alter- native to imprisonment. The number of days of the fine varies with the type of crime as well as the particulars of its commitment, from a mini- mum of ten and up to 360 days. The daily rate of the fine ranges between MOP50 to MOP10,000, which is determined by the judge in accordance with the proportionality principle and the financial condition of the offender. Civil court proceedings start with written sub- missions; following these, the trial is primarily verbal and is presided over by a judge. Once all summoned are present, trial will commence with an attempt at conciliation which, if unsuc- cessful, will give way to the depositions from the respondent and the plaintiff, followed by the taking of evidence, expert testimonies, hearing of witnesses, and oral arguments on the facts, in that order although subject to change when deemed necessary or convenient. The court will then recall and issue the judgment on the facts, delivered in writing and read aloud in the presence of all those directly involved. It is common to adjourn the proceedings for the issu- ance and reading of the decision on the facts. 7. Trials and Hearings 7.1 Trial Proceedings
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