Court says it is not required to publish ruling in Portuguese

The Court of First Instance has sent a dispatch to the two lawyers defending Sulu Sou and Scott Chiang listing four reasons why it is refusing to translate a 66-page ruling into Portuguese, including the fact that it is entitled to use either of Macau’s official languages.

Late last week, lawyers Jorge Menezes and Pedro Leal requested a translation of the Chinese-language ruling into Portuguese in preparation for the possible next stages of the case.

The Times has obtained access to the two-page dispatch, which is written entirely in Chinese despite the fact that the request was submitted in Portuguese. Both Chinese and Portuguese enjoy the status of official language in the Macau SAR.

The dispatch notes that it is within the court’s discretion to use one of the two official languages that it recognizes.

It said that not only has the court made a summary of the sentence in Portuguese, but that the defendants understand Chinese, and that the lawyers can pay for a translation if they so choose.

A legal expert who requested to remain anonymous informed the Times that the court’s decision was “ridiculous” on several counts.

Firstly, the legal expert said, all four legal professionals involved in the trial speak Portuguese, but only two speak Chinese.

Secondly, although the defendants are able to understand Chinese, they do not share the legal background required to fully interpret the court’s ruling.

Menezes and Leal told the media last week that they were both surprised and unhappy over the sentence, adding that they had expected their clients to be acquitted. The two lawyers said that they are studying with their clients the possibility of appealing the sentence. The verdict and sentencing may only be appealed during a 20-day period that began after the trial concluded.

The legal expert estimated that it would cost in excess of MOP45,000 and eat up at least half of the 20-day appeal period in order to have the document translated into Portuguese. This constitutes unequal treatment with the Chinese prosecutor who does not require the translation, the expert argued.

It is not the first occasion that a request to have court documents translated into Portuguese, an official language of the MSAR, has been refused.

However, in January this year, Menezes was successful in requesting that the Court of First Instance postpone the start of the case until the lawyer could have the relevant case documents translated.