MACAU SAR, CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: João Nuno Riquito, Bruno Almeida, Bernice Kwok and Daniel de Senna Fernandes, Riquito Advogados
ognition and enforcement of arbitration awards between the Macau SAR and the Hong Kong SAR as well as between the Macau SAR and the PRC. 13.2 Subject Matters Not Referred to Arbitration Matters not susceptible to settlement agree- ments may not be submitted to arbitration, such as: • disputes whose respective objects involve inalienable rights (ie, rights in respect of which the parties may not surrender, negoti- ate or transfer (such as parental relations)); • matters that are by law submitted to the jurisdiction of the judicial courts, such as mat- ters in relation to real estate rights over land located in the Macau SAR and the bank- ruptcy and insolvency of corporations with registered offices in the Macau SAR; • the effective enforcement of any awards; • matters that have already been decided by a res judicata award (except in relation to aspects of its implementation which are not covered by the award); and • matters in relation to which the Public Pros- ecutor has to intervene in representation of individuals who lack legal capacity to act. 13.3 Circumstances to Challenge an Arbitral Award The arbitration award issued in arbitration pro- ceedings may only be challenged by annulment on the following grounds. • lack of legal capacity of any of the parties to enter into the arbitration agreement; • unenforceability of the arbitration clause according to the agreed jurisdiction (or according to the Macau SAR law, in case of omission);
• impossibility of a party to exercise their respective rights during the arbitration proceedings due to inadequate information of the appointment of the arbitrator or of the arbitration process, or due to any other reason; • the arbitration award falls outside or exceeds the scope of the arbitration agreement; • irregular constitution of the arbitration tribu- nal according to the arbitration clause (save when the provision is non-compliant with the Macau SAR law) or according to the Macau SAR law, in case of omission; • insusceptibility of submission to arbitration of the subject matter of the decision in accord- ance with the Macau SAR law; and • contrary to public order. Annulment proceedings should be submitted within three months from the date the award has been notified to the relevant party or – if any rectification, interpretation, clarification or additional complementary decision has been requested – from the issuance date of the deci- sion on the latter. 13.4 Procedure for Enforcing Domestic and Foreign Arbitration The enforcement of domestic arbitration awards does not require any previous confirmation by the Macau SAR courts and they are considered equivalent, for enforcement purposes, to judicial awards. The recognition and enforcement of foreign arbi- tration awards take place through separate pro- ceedings, which fall within the competence of the Court of Second Instance.
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