The Macao society has developed respect for the rule of law and for the judicial decisions since the region returned to the motherland 25 five years ago, said the president of Macao's Court of Final Appeal in an interview on Monday.
In an interview prior to the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to China on December 20, 1999, Sung Man Lei, president of Court of Final Appeal of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), said that since Macao returned to the motherland 25 years ago, the courts in the Macao SAR have been taking the responsibility of upholding the authority of China's Constitution and the Basic Law of Macao as well as implementing the principle of "One Country, Two Systems" in the region.
Sung worked as a prosecutor in 1996 and has been serving in Macao's judicial system ever since the return. In the interview, she said the region's judicial system has kept improving since 1999.
"Before the return, Portuguese was widely used in the judicial system and local judges were still a minority. Basically, the judgments were written in Portuguese. However, Macao's population has its own characteristic structure with Chinese being the majority and they don't speak Portuguese, which means they need translation to understand the judgments written in Portuguese. Since the return, Chinese has been used in the legislative and legal proceedings as well as the writing of litigation documents. As a result, it is easier for residents in Macao to understand the judgments. Previously, residents were not familiar with the judicial work because of the language barrier but the situation has changed greatly since the return. I think over the decades the Macao society has nurtured a great respect for the judicial decisions and for the rule of law," Sung said.
In terms of national security, the Macao SAR has gradually developed legal systems and enforcement mechanisms for safeguarding China's national sovereignty, security and development interests.
Sung recalled that in the 7th election of the Legislative Assembly of the Macao SAR in 2021, the Court of Final Appeal heard an election appeal case and made the relevant principles clear in its decision.
"In the decision, the Court of Final Appeal pointed out clearly that 'One Country, Two Systems' is the basic system of governance of the Macao SAR by the central government. 'One Country' is the People's Republic of China and opposing 'One Country' is against the policy of 'One Country, Two Systems'. By the decision, we delivered our understanding of 'One Country, Two Systems'. The decision stands for practical implementation of the Basic Law and the principles that 'the people of Macao administer Macao' and that 'Macao is administered by patriots'," Sung said.
Being part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area city cluster in south China, which is a region characterized by cooperation and coordination under different judicial and legal systems, Sung said Macao will strengthen its judicial cooperation and coordination with other regions.
"Macao will continue to integrate into the national development. In particular, it will align more closely with the rest of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to achieve common development. For these reasons, more efforts will be made to connect Macao's legal system with the national legal system," she said.
Respect for rule of law achieved in Macao since return: highest court president
Respect for rule of law achieved in Macao since return: highest court president
