CE praises national security handling, urges judicial reform

Chief Executive (CE) Sam Hou Fai used the opening of the new judicial year to outline seven priorities for the judiciary, praising its handling of Macau’s first national security case while calling for stronger integrity and reform.

Sam praised the judiciary for “strictly carrying out the investigation and trial of Macau’s first case involving national security in accordance with the law,” saying it safeguarded national security and social stability. He noted that judicial staffing has grown substantially since the handover, with judges rising from 23 to 50, prosecutors from 20 to 40, and auxiliary staff from 146 to 390, adding that the “many cases, few people” problem has undergone “a substantive change.”

The seven priorities include upholding the constitutional order and exercising judicial power independently; strengthening anti-corruption awareness, with Sam warning that “any behavior damaging the image of the judiciary will undermine society’s trust in the rule of law”; improving personnel management; continuing judicial reform, including electronic case handling and AI in case management; serving Macau’s development, including aligning rules in Hengqin; contributing expertise to revising the “five major codes”; and expanding international judicial exchanges.

Sam also urged the Macau Lawyers’ Association to accelerate institutional reform and advance the revision of the Lawyers’ Statute.

20,368 cases handled last year

Macau’s three levels of courts received 20,368 cases in the past judicial year, up 246 from the previous year, continuing a years-long rise in caseloads, Court of Final Appeal (TUI) President Song Man Lei said in her annual report, released at yesterday’s opening ceremony.

Song said the TUI received 103 cases, down 69 from 172 the previous year, marking a nine-year low, with appeals against judicial decisions falling from 37 to 21. The Court of Second Instance received 1,172 cases, up 112, with civil and labor appeals rising sharply by 117 to 284 and criminal appeals up 67 to 689. The first-level courts received 19,093 cases, up 203, with the Criminal Instruction Court up 445 to 7,668, while the Court of First Instance (TJB) fell 265 to 11,327.

Across the three levels, 19,675 cases were concluded, up 225, for an overall clearance rate of 96.6%. As of 31 August, 13,794 cases remained pending, up 813.

Song noted that criminal cases continued to rise, with the criminal courts’ caseload increasing from 5,606 to 5,783, including collegiate panel cases, which rose from 1,776 to 1,969, a roughly 10% increase for three consecutive years. She attributed this to recovering visitor numbers, a more active gaming and tourism sector, and tougher enforcement against gaming-related crime, money laundering, and telecom fraud. Since the law against illegal gambling took effect in October 2024, creating the offense of illegal currency exchange for gambling, 383 such cases entered the TJB, 19.5% of all collegiate criminal cases.

“Because the maximum penalty for this offense exceeds three years, under current law such cases must be heard by a collegiate panel. But in practice, these cases are generally simple, with straightforward evidence. Whether a collegiate panel must always hear them, or whether the law could be amended to allow a single judge to hear them, freeing judicial resources for more complex and serious cases, is a question worthy of serious study,” Song said.

Civil and labor appeals to the TSI rose 70.1%, from 167 to 284. “This change reflects the recovery in economic activity and market transactions, as well as the gradual resumption of travel and investment. It is also tied to the increase in the number of TJB judges and the opening of a fourth civil court, which accelerated the handling of civil cases,” she said. She expected civil and labor disputes to continue rising, putting greater pressure on the TSI’s efficiency.

Family and minors court cases fell for a second year, to about 1,000 from 1,311 in 2023/24. Song linked the decline to the diversion of uncontested divorces to the Civil Registry and to the mandatory family mediation scheme introduced on January 1. She said the courts support efforts to promote and improve family mediation and to strengthen mediator training, hoping to resolve more family disputes outside litigation.

First-instance courts under the same roof by 2028

Building on Sam’s remarks about judicial infrastructure, Song said the TUI moved into new premises this year, with the TSI building scheduled for next year and the TJB building in 2028. “By the end of 2028, except for the Criminal Instruction Court, all first-instance courts will move into the expanded building, ending the long history of courts being scattered across different commercial buildings,” she said.

Regarding training, Song noted that 10 judges who took office in October 2024 attended a continuing education course in Jinan, and 72 judicial auxiliary staff participated in training in Dongguan, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. 

Macau hosted the 13th Forum of Presidents of Supreme Courts of Portuguese-Speaking Countries and Territories in October 2025. It will send a delegation to the 2026 Judicial Technology Summit in Lisbon next month.

Two civil court judges recruited from Portugal took office last month, and 27 newly trained junior clerks joined the courts’ auxiliary staff, according to Song.

Prosecutor General flags delays in criminal referrals

The Public Prosecutor General, Tong Hio Fong, has raised concerns that some public administrative departments took more than a year to refer suspected criminal conduct to the Public Prosecutions Office, in some cases allowing the statute of limitations to nearly expire or to lapse.

Speaking at the opening of the new judicial year, Tong said the office filed 13,923 criminal cases in the past judicial year, down 8.3% year over year. However, he flagged a rise in offenses involving minors, with 186 cases involving 294 people under 16, both up from the previous year. He said this matter “deserves a high degree of attention.”

Eleven young people were newly admitted to the juvenile reformatory during the period, up nine from a year earlier, for offenses including aggravated theft, robbery, and assault.

Tong warned that public departments must demonstrate “a high degree of legal sensitivity and awareness of time limits” and promptly refer cases, rather than allowing “complex internal administrative procedures” to cause them to miss “the golden window for criminal investigation.”

He reported a prosecution success rate of 89.9%, with 2,616 convictions or partial convictions against 295 acquittals, and noted a 150% increase in illegal currency exchange cases, from 64 to 160.

The office made three recommendations: review outdated criminal law provisions, establish a regional criminal judicial assistance mechanism with the mainland and Hong Kong, and introduce a cooling-off period for retiring judicial officers.

TRAINEE LAWYERS RISE TO 159 AS REGISTERED LAWYERS FALL TO 444

Macau Lawyers’ Association president Vong Hin Fai said the legal profession in Macau remained stable over the past year, with 444 registered lawyers as of now, down five from 449 a year earlier. The number of trainee lawyers rose by 17 to 159.

Currently, 75 lawyers serve as private notaries in the region, 15 as China-appointed notaries, and 106 Macau lawyers are registered as Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area lawyers.

The association’s arbitration, mediation, and conciliation centers, which have operated since 2002, continue to provide related services. To date, the arbitration center has 75 registered arbitrators, and the mediation and conciliation center has 72 registered mediators.

The People’s Court of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin has designated the mediation and conciliation center as a specially invited mediation organization, and its mediators continue to provide individual or joint mediation services to the court.