AL Plenary | Drug dealers and users to face heavier punishments

An amendment to Macau’s prohibition of illicit production, trafficking and consumption of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances was passed yesterday. 

The new laws increase the minimum jail term for drug dealers from three years to five years, while the maximum remains 15 years. In turn, the minimum jail term for drug users also increased from three months to one year.

The bill also rules that when a drug user is found in possession of a specific quantity of narcotics, he or she will be regarded as a drug dealer instead of a user.

This new amendment, according to the government, avoids wrongfully identifying drug dealers as drug users. To date, the authorities had no criteria by which to obtain enough evidence to prove drug dealing.

The amendment also authorizes the police authority to obtain urine samples in situ, under certain conditions, upon inspection of people suspect of using drugs.

Cheang Chi Keong, in his introduction of the bill, mentioned that the Third Standing Committee of the AL shifted the deadline for deliberating the amendment five times, “because of its great complexity and impact on society.”

Cheang said that the committee had considered the punishment for drug abusers to be “too heavy,” as “the world trend is all moving towards treating drug abusers as victims, reducing the punishment upon them, and helping them to return to society.”

The committee suggested the government apply heavier penalties in cross-border drug dealing cases. It also suggested authorities recognize the dumping of used syringes as a crime, and urged them not to establish a compulsory detention system in order to help the abusers return to normal life.

Cheang said that the committee is “strongly looking forward to the government taking the committee’s suggestion into consideration.”

Lei Cheng I asked the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan, whether the government will consider cross-border drug dealing occurrences as aggravated crimes.

Sonia Chan explained that this suggestion will make it confusing for the police and judiciary authority to conduct investigations, as criminal groups involved in cross-border drug dealing crimes are already included in other laws, which apply heavier punishments for these crimes.

She said that if cross-border drug dealing is to be regarded as an aggravated crime, then the jail term could potentially be increased from eight to 20 years, which would be inordinately heavy within Macau’s overall legal system.

Lawmaker Gabriel Tong voiced his opinion on the amendment. “Recently, I have noticed that many bills [in Macau] follow a trend, [which] make it look like if we enhance the punishment, then crimes and bad things will stop happening, or will be easy to control,” commented Tong, who pointed out that capital punishment exists in many places around the world, but still “have these crimes [related to the punishment] seen a reduction in their numbers?” 

Vong Hin Fai and José Pereira Coutinho questioned Sonia Chan on “under what certain conditions” can the authority request urine samples from drug users at the scene?” Vong demanded the government representatives to provide examples.

The Judiciary Police (PJ) director Chau Wai Kuong said that when the police conduct sudden investigative operations, they could not simply arrest everybody at the scene because some individuals might have not been using drugs.

Chau explained that the new law will allow the police to first take urine samples and only afterwards arrest certain people. This policy is also believed to help the police trace drug dealers.

AL to discuss the establishing of indecent assault offence as crime

The Legislative Assembly (AL) revealed that the government had already delivered a proposal to AL to amend Macau’s laws regarding sexual offences.

Ng Kuok Cheong and Au Kam San put forward a bill which suggests the city regard indecency as a crime, but the bill was rejected.

Lam Heong Sang first revealed the coincidence that the government delivered a document to AL to be discussed soon, and that the content is similar to Ng and Au’s proposal. Lam pointed out that the government’s proposal, however, is clearer and more conclusive.

In the proposal, Ng and Au say that the government has not done enough work to address these issues.

Vong Hin Fai, however, defended the authority and criticized the proposal for its ambiguity and contradictions.

Many lawmakers admitted though that they support the well-intended purpose behind the proposal.

Ng Kuok Cheong, in reply to his supporters, said “I am positive because there is a great chance that turning indecency into a crime will become reality.”

Ma Chi Cheong, in his statement after the vote, said that the amendment should be written with “caution, rigorous methodology, and systematic consideration,” as he considered the current proposal to have been poorly drafted.

On the lawmakers’ agenda

Political reform Ng Kuok Cheong has reminded the assembly that in the past he delivered a survey to local government showing that 60 percent of the interviewees supported Macau having universal suffrage to elect the Chief Executive (CE), and that two thirds of the supporters believed that such a goal should be achieved by 2019. He criticized the current government for, in fact, preventing Macau from achieving political reform. Ng urged the current chief executive to organize a public consultation on the topic in consideration of and respect for public will, which he said was for electing the CE under universal suffrage. Such a move would make it easier for the region to change Macau’s CE electoral law, and to implement political reforms in 2019.

Top official’s morality Pereira Coutinho questioned the morals of the region’s top governmental officials. He said that since the Macau SAR was established, cases of senior governmental officials showing a lack of morals have been frequently exposed. “They have been corrupt, cheating, […] [they] don’t have any morality,” accused Coutinho, further saying that the key question is that, until today, no department has responded to the corruption evident in Macau. The lawmaker noted that many public departments, including the Commission Against Corruption, are acting passively towards the existence of corruption.

Government transparency Leong Veng Chai urged the government to immediately establish a disciplinary investigation body in order to probe governmental high officials who reportedly hired relatives to work in the government. Leong addressed the assembly stating that top officials should avoid allowing individuals to unfairly benefit from decisions they make. He further noted that major officials should avoid becoming involved in controversial situations, which would be helpful in protecting the government’s reputation for impartiality and independence.