CONFIDENTIAL
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judicial commission. High Court judges for Macau cases would, from 1 January 1993, sit in Macau. They would be appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of a metropolitan judicial commission. By 1999 this commission would move to Macau.
Between 1993 and 1999 there could still be appeals on some very
limited constitutional cases to the Constitutional Court in
Portugal. But the final court effectively would be in Macau. It would be called the Macau High Court and would have within it both a court of second instance and a final court of third
instance. Since there is not a single Chinese lawyer or judge at present, the Macau Government see little possibility of top judges being appointed from anywhere but Portugal, even after 1999, except for the President of the Court of Final Appeal who has to be a Chinese citizen. There is no mention of right of
abode for this man in the Macau Basic Law. That means that in practice a Macanese with a Portugese passport can hold the job.
5.
In the longer term however, Dr Rangel thought there could be some Chinese lawyers and judges. Macau is now paying for mainland lawyers to be trained in Portugese law in Portugal, before returning to Macau to practice there if they
want to.
6.
The Portugese have not consulted the Chinese on any of the changes to the judicial system. They seem to think they will get away with it!
Basic Law
7.
As in our own case, the Chinese have agreed to listen to proposals from the Portugese. Legal experts from Lisbon held a meeting with their Chinese counterparts in Peking in
February.
CONFIDENTIAL
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