Briefs | Top court agrees to bar highest officials as witnesses

The Court of Final Appeal has supported the government’s decision to exempt high-ranking government officials from being witnesses at court trials. In 2015, during a lawsuit case, a plaintiff listed former Chief Executive Edmund Ho and a former Secretary for Economy and Finance as witnesses. However, the then-Chief Executive instructed the court to forbid these two people from acting as witnesses in court on the grounds that the relevant case was confidential and should not be made available to the public. The plaintiff did not agree with the Chief Executive’s decision and appealed to the TUI. However, Macau’s top court said that the Chief Executive’s decision was meant to protect public interests and that it was a political rather than administrative decision, on account of which the plaintiff could not appeal.

Imprisoned police officers dismissed from job

The Secretary for Security has dismissed two police officers who were convicted of crimes. The two are former officers of the Public Security Police Force (PSP). Back in 2017, the Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested the two former PSP officers, one Macau local resident and four non-local suspects. Later, the two officers were found guilty of abusing power and assisting illegal immigration. In August 2018, the PSP suspended both officers from their positions. In 2018, they were first sentenced to 21 and 19 years in prison. Subsequently, these sentences were revised to 19 and 15 years in prison.

Hengqin to build Macau research academy

The Guangdong government has officially given Zhuhai approval to build an international research academy for Macau. Guangdong’s provincial natural resources department agreed to allow Zhuhai to build the academy on a piece of land on Hengqin island, which will carry out research on topics related to the Greater Bay Area. Of particular focus will be the relationship between industry, academia and the research sector. The project will occupy a plot of construction land spanning 31.2 hectares.

IPIM completes first amendment of immigration criteria

The local government has completed its update of criteria for immigration applications. The Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) responded to lawmaker Ella Lei’s interpellation by saying that IPIM had already completed a preliminary draft of new criteria for immigration requests on the grounds of investment or skilled professions. IPIM has asked for the opinions of the Economic Development Committee and the Talents Development Committee, among other organizations. The bureau is currently working on details regarding operational steps for immigration application review procedures. It will announce relevant updates soon.