Portuguese and Macau prosecutors discuss judicial co-operation

The Attorney General of the Portuguese Republic, Joana Marques Vidal, led a delegation from Ministério Público (Public Ministry or Portuguese MP) of the Portuguese Republic, and visited the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Macau MP) of the Macau Special Administrative Region yesterday as part of a three-day visit to Macau in an attempt to deepen co-operation between the two jurisdictions in the fight against corruption and money laundering, as well as the formation of magistrates and extending the period Portuguese magistrates can work in the MSAR.
“We want to keep co-operation between Portugal and Macau, which are united culturally and with the same judicial system. Macau can benefit from the support of the Portuguese Public Ministry and with the exchange of experience,” said Ms. Vidal.
The meeting with Macau Prosecutor General Ip Son Sang also included the presence of the Director of the Central Investigation Department and joint prosecutor Amadeu Francisco Ribeiro Guerra, and Permanent Member of the Superior Council of the Prosecutor’s Office Jorge Manuel Alves de Oliveira.
Magistrate service in Macau debated
In a previous statement sent to the news agency Lusa earlier this month the Portuguese Council for Public Prosecution announced ‘commissions of service by magistrates [in Macau] should have a limited time duration, normally three years, able to be renewed again if exceptional public interest is warranted’ claiming it was ‘totally available to bring magistrates with equal qualifications for those positions’.
Following the meeting yesterday, however, Prosecutor Vidal announced there was an agreement that would allow magistrates interested in working in the MSAR to be commissioned for four years, with the possibility of extending the period to eight years.
“The number of magistrates required by the Macau MP will be dependent upon how many prosecutors are available in Portugal, which is already limited now; but we haven’t discussed any limitations on the number of prosecutors that can be asked for,” said Ms. Vida.
In his statement after the meeting, Prosecutor Ip Son Sang stressed how the “MSAR can benefit from the experience of the Portuguese Public Ministry,” but didn’t comment on the possibility of Macau having a shortage of prosecutors since of the four Portuguese Public Prosecution magistrates working in Macau, one had to return to Portugal after his commission period expired last year and another is expected to do so in August this year, the reason the Macau MP contacted its Portuguese counterpart in order to resolve the limitation of magistrates’ commissions, Lusa reported.
The topic was also touched upon during Vidal’s meeting on Sunday with the Macau Lawyer’s Association (AAM), where she stated that the Portuguese Public Ministry is fully aware that with the Macau legal code being a legacy of the Portuguese penal code, both prosecution offices should “deepen their co-operation through agreements or through magistrate education”, as reported by news agency Lusa.
After the Sunday meeting Vidal said the AAM showed interest in keeping the “co-operation with the Portuguese Public Ministry” and she invited Association president Jorge Neto Valente to travel to Lisbon in order to maintain good relationships, Lusa reported. The president of the AAM stated that “it’s always useful to be able to have an opportunity to change impressions and see that we share the same points of view about the necessity of bringing Public Prosecutors from Portugal to Macau.”
In January this year the Portuguese Public Ministry announced an agreement for Portuguese magistrates to be able to work in the MSAR, and promised it would be ‘completely available’ to replace any magistrate working on commission in Macau who couldn’t extend the commission period, Lusa reported at the time. Corruption concerns
Vidal’s visit also focused on deepening co-operation in the fight against corruption and money laundering, and after yesterday’s meeting offered the “availability to receive magistrates from the MSAR for formation and internships in organisations against corruption, like the Portuguese Central Department of Investigation and penal action.”
Corruption and money laundering have been in focus following the release on April 13 of the annual report by the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC). The report revealed identified ‘active and passive corruption, document falsification, abuse of power, violation of secrecy and unjustified wealth’ concerning the majority of all 262 criminal cases committed by ‘public servants’, Business Daily reported. On the same day Vidal was meeting with the AAM, Legislators Ng Kuok Cheong and Au Kam San, together with other Association for the Initiative of Community Development in Macau members, delivered a letter to the government, urging the Chief Executive to fight the alleged complicity between public employees and contractors connected to public projects, including procurement of goods and services, TDM reported.
After Macau, the Portuguese Prosecutor General will travel to Beijing, following an invitation by the Chinese Supreme Prosecutor’s Office, with the purpose of also tightening the bonds between the two countries’ judiciaries, Lusa reported.