Legislative assembly | Lawmakers to consider Vong’s ‘immunity resolution’ today

Lawmaker Sulu Sou will today begin standing trial at the Court of First Instance accused of “aggravated disobedience,” after his  legislative immunity was lifted last month in a suspension vote. The young democrat, represented by his attorney Jorge Menezes, is simultaneously seeking the annulment of the suspension at the Court of Second Instance (TSI), claiming that the procedure leading to the decision was unlawful.

Across the road, the other Macau lawmakers will be convening in the afternoon at the Legislative Assembly (AL) building to deliberate on several issues on the agenda.

The last of these is expected to be Vong Hin Fai’s controversial ‘immunity resolution’, which seeks to classify these suspensions as “political acts”, barring administrative courts from ruling on whether they – or presumably the procedures leading up to the decisions – are lawful.

It remains unclear how events over the next 24 hours will unfold and what the consequences of these two gatherings will mean for the future of Macau’s political system and its judicial independence.

Vong and Sou, who are taking increasingly firm stances on the immunity resolution, were in agreement over the weekend that it had been introduced precisely to counter the democrat’s appeal at the TSI. Sou has argued that the AL cannot act as both a “player and referee” because of its direct interest in the outcome of the case, but Vong contends that the AL’s involvement is exactly why it should intervene.

Macau Lawyers Association President Jorge Neto Valente weighed in on the proposal to say that it was wrong, anywhere in the world, to make a law targeting a single person.

Speaking to Radio Macau, the high-profile lawyer said the immunity resolution was “discrediting” Macau’s legal system and creating a bad image for the AL. He added that he hopes lawmakers will reject the proposal.

João Albuquerque, an expert in constitutional law also said yesterday that the proposal breaches several legal provisions and “violates the fundamental rights of Macau’s system.” Speaking yesterday to Radio Macau, Albuquerque appealed to “common sense” and for the AL to withdraw the document from consideration.

The immunity resolution contains just two articles. The first states that “deliberations of the Legislative Assembly that lead to the suspension or loss of a lawmaker’s mandate are acts of a political nature that are excluded from administrative, fiscal or customs appeal.”

The second article establishes that the measure would have retroactive effects dating back to December 1999, when the MSAR was created.