Lusophone lawyers

The Macau Special Administrative Region is the platform bridging China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.
Designated to play such a role, it seems that the latest decision of the General Assembly of the Macau Lawyers’ Association granting a mandate to the Board to negotiate with the Portuguese Bar Association should be considered as one more step in achieving what the People’s Republic of China considers vital to Macau.
Besides Portugal, it should be enlarged to Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and all other lusophone countries without any sort of mental reservation.
A Region which is a platform should authorise lawyers of the countries of such platform to intervene with rules known to everyone.
We cannot call Macau a platform and restrict the lawyers of the platform from establishing themselves here. We should have in Macau the crème de la crème of the profession in order to better provide legal services for international clients.
Always with rules and guidelines – plus sanctions for those who fail to comply with them.
It would not shock me if, in the future, we had more Brazilian or Portuguese-speaking countries’ lawyers in Macau. As a matter of fact, we should have more and make this platform for real and not something that is nice to mention in official speeches, which, in the end, are almost devoid of content.
Side by side with the lawyers, we should also consider Macau as the appropriate forum for arbitration tribunals and any other alternative dispute resolution methods to settle clashes between entities of the lusophony.
For that, the creation of arbitration entities is essential and might be one of the goals of the government.
Our Region seems to be jettisoning opportunity after opportunity without considering that the future is happening today and that tomorrow is too late to do what we have not done yesterday. It sometimes seems like one of those rich kids who have everything but, due to that, are lazy and would rather watch TV than going out and working for a better future for himself and his family.
We all sincerely hope that the father and the grandfather put him on the correct track.