The laws of Macau are composed of Portuguese laws, laws enacted by Portugal for Macau and laws enacted by Macau's own legislature.
After 1749, the extension and application of Portuguese law in Macao gradually began. In the first Portuguese Constitution in 1822, Macau was officially regarded as one of Portugal's overseas colonies, and Portuguese law naturally became the law of Macau. Since then, several major Portuguese codes have been extended to Macau. The laws extending from Portugal to Macau are mainly the five major codes commonly referred to in civil law countries, namely: Portuguese Civil Code, Portuguese Criminal Code, Portuguese Commercial Code, Portuguese Criminal Procedure Code and Portuguese Civil Procedure Code. In addition, there are some minor codes, such as the Civil Registration Code, the Property Registration Code, the Colonial Revenue Code, the Agricultural Labor Code, the Military Justice Code, etc. These codes extend to Macao, forming the framework of Macao's legal system and laying the foundation for Macao's legal system.
The laws of civil law countries or regions usually consist of public law, private law, and laws between public law and private law. The existing laws in Macao belong to private law, generally including: Civil Code, Commercial Code, Company Law, Lawyers' General Principles, Civil and Commercial Law and Property Registration Law, as well as various specialized laws or regulations related to civil and commercial legal relations; generally speaking, public law includes : Articles of association of Macao companies, articles of association of members of the Legislative Council, criminal code, judicial organization outline law, criminal procedure law, administrative procedure law, tax law, culture, education and health law, etc.; laws between public law and private law generally include: labor law, Economic laws and various government regulations on regulating the economy.
According to the legislative power granted by the Macao Constitution, the normative documents formulated and issued by the Governor of Macao within the scope of authorization are called decrees. In addition to the laws enacted by the Legislative Council, ordinances are the most important legal form in Macau. In Macau's legal order, ordinances are actually the most numerous laws. The contents of the decrees mostly involve major or general matters such as politics, economy, administration, judicial system, culture, and education in the region. For example, the decree approving the Road Law and its regulations, the decree adopting the General Rules for Officials of the Supreme Court and the General Rules for Members of the Macau High Judicial Council and the Macau Judicial Council and related organizations, the decree establishing the Macau Housing Department and the Drug Supervision Decree "wait.
Portugal is one of the civil law countries that officially stipulates that case interpretation can be used as a source of law. The Portuguese Supreme Court has developed many cases, some of which extend to Macau. Since the Macau High Court officially started operating in April 1993, Macau has no precedent of its own. However, the Macau High Court is currently setting a precedent on the statute of limitations for land acquisition.
The Macau Court is the second instance of final appeal. Courts are divided into courts with general jurisdiction and exclusive courts. The former includes the High Courts and courts of general jurisdiction, and the latter includes administrative courts and courts of audit. Except for the Macau Supreme Court, all other courts in Macau are affiliated to the Portuguese Lisbon High Court (Overseas) District Court. They exercise judicial power in Macau and have civil courts, criminal courts, military courts and collegial panels to hear all civil, criminal and military cases in accordance with the law. , without interference from the Macau government or boycott or restriction from the Portuguese government. Most cases in Macau can be settled locally, and a few cases will be settled in Lisbon.
Courts of general jurisdiction and criminal preliminary courts exercise general jurisdiction of first instance.
The Administrative Court exercises administrative, tax and customs jurisdiction.
The Audit Court exercises fiscal jurisdiction and operates as a single court or as a collegiate bench. If you are dissatisfied with the decision of the independent court, you can appeal to the collegiate bench. When the Court of Audit operates as a collegial panel, its judgment is usually final and cannot be appealed again by the parties.
The High Court was established in 1993 according to the "Macao Judicial Organization Outline Law" passed by the Portuguese Parliament in August. It is the highest organ of the Macao judicial system and is responsible for hearing appeals against the judgments of the lower courts. The Supreme Court operates as a second instance and review court and has final jurisdiction over most cases in the region. The High Court has a plenary chamber and two specialized courts, one with administrative, revenue and customs jurisdiction and the other with general jurisdiction.
The Procuratorate is an autonomous agency that initiates criminal proceedings and safeguards legitimate rights and interests on behalf of the Macao Special Administrative Region. Macau implements the separation of prosecution and prosecution, and the procuratorate independently performs its duties assigned by law without any interference.
Since Macau gained legislative power in 1976, its legal system has also undergone changes, including laws enacted by Portugal for Macau, such as the Macau Constitution and the Macau Judicial Organization Outline Law, as well as Macau’s own Laws enacted by administrative agencies, such as the Publication Law and the Educational System Decree. These laws are all written in Portuguese, and only important laws enacted by the Legislative Council have Chinese translations. In recent years, as the autonomy of Macao's judicial system has accelerated, newly promulgated laws and decrees have only been translated into Chinese.
According to the provisions of the Macao Basic Law, Macao’s original laws will basically remain unchanged after the return. Judicial power belongs to the courts of the Macao Special Administrative Region, thus achieving judicial localization. The President and Chief Prosecutor of the Court of Final Appeal of the Macau Special Administrative Region must be Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of the Macau Special Administrative Region, and most of the remaining judges can still be served by local Chinese judges and foreign judges.