President of Portuguese Supreme Court of Justice visits

The President of the Portugal Supreme Court of Justice, António Silva Henriques Gaspar, visited the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the MSAR (MP) over the weekend as part of a four-day trip to the territory by invitation of the President of the Court of Final Appeal, Sam Hou Fai. The trip seeks to promote co-operation and the exchange of opinions between the judiciary systems.
In his presentation at the Court of Final Appeal Sam Hou Fai stated that since the handover to China the SAR has managed to maintain the independence of its judicial system, also mentioning that the increase in the number of judges recruited from Portugal to the SAR from four to eight has contributed to the healthy functioning of Macau courts.
The Court of Final Appeal President also reiterated Macau’s role as a platform of co-operation and exchange between the courts of Chinese and Portuguese-speaking countries, especially in the wake of the judiciary co-operation agreement signed last week between the Supreme
People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China and its Portuguese counterpart, according to the release.
The Portuguese representative stated that due to historical ties between Portugal and the SAR, the Supreme Court of Justice in Portugal gives great importance to co-operation with the territory’s judicial system, stating that more practical and efficient ways of co-operation should be fostered, the release notes. The two sides agreed on planning the 10th conference between the Presidents of the Supreme Court of Justice from Portuguese-speaking countries and China, and that some decisions and accords by the Portugal Supreme Court deemed of larger importance would be translated into Chinese and published on a website for international court judgments.
The Portuguese delegation also visited with the Chief Executive during its stay in the territory.