The acting president of the Court of Final Appeal, Song Man Lei, has said that judges from Macao will be appointed to the People’s Court in Hengqin under a pilot scheme. The resulting “collective court” will make rulings on commercial and civil cases involving parties from Macao, according to a report by Macau Post Daily.
Speaking yesterday at the Macao Cultural Centre, during a ceremony to launch the new judicial year, Song added that there had been a significant increase in the number of requests for judicial assistance between courts in Macao and the Chinese mainland, and a rise in the number of cases – mostly financial cases and divorce proceedings – in which parties seek mainland rulings.
Noting that 19,239 cases were received by Macao’s judicial system in the past judicial year – an increase of 1,858 cases compared to the previous year – Song also said that a new civil court would be established to ease the judicial workload and reduce the waiting time for cases to be heard.
[See more: More than a dozen new judges have been sworn in as part of a major judicial overhaul]
She meanwhile said that use of the Chinese language in the judicial system would be promoted, in order to “demystify” the work of the judiciary for the ordinary residents of the SAR, who are overwhelmingly Chinese.
The ceremony was also attended by outgoing Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng, who said it was essential for Macao to continue promoting innovation in the judicial system, improve the operational efficiency of its judicial institutions, strengthen the professional competence and ethical standards of judicial personnel, and crack down on the risk of judicial corruption.
Yesterday’s event came after 15 new judges and eight new public prosecutors were sworn in on Tuesday, in a major overhaul of the judiciary after it was rocked last year, when former assistant prosecutor general Kong Chi was charged with a raft of serious crimes including abuse of power, breach of judicial secrecy and bribery. Kong was sentenced to 17 years in jail in January.
