New prison guard career statute in force by September 15

The new career statute for prison guards in Macau will likely come into force by September this year, the chairman of the Third Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly Vong Hin Fai announced late last week.
According to the chairman, the new law will likely take effect by mid-September as the government has requested a change to the original date for the enforcement of the law.
“We have discussed this matter and we decided that it’s best if this law does not enter into force on the first day of the first month after its publication, as it was originally designed. The government requested this change as they still need to prepare some complementary administrative regulations to match the new law — so it was decided it that will enter into force on September 15,” Vong said. “If approved by mid this month, this means that the government will have three months to [compose] and update the necessary administrative regulations,” he explained.
Vong was speaking to the media in a briefing after a committee meeting where the members concluded the discussion on the details of the new law and issued its final assessment.
Questioned by the media on what topics need further updating through administrative regulation, Vong said they were “mostly about details regarding the training courses, and evaluation performance regime, among others.”
According to the committee, the amendments were intended to improve the system for training and promoting prison guards, to boost staff morale, and to improve the retention of staff by making the career path more attractive, especially for young people.
The restructuring of the statute created three new career levels up to 10 from the current seven, matching it to the Macau Security Force, and adding training courses similar to those that police officers are offered by the Academy of Public Security Forces, the chairman of the committee summarized.
The bill will now be sent to the plenary, which has already scheduled a session to take place on June 16 (Wednesday) when it will be finally voted on. Staff Reporter*

*With additional reporting from Renato Marques