Government to heed concerns on the use of English

Legal Reform Office director Chu Lam Lam promised it will ‘take into consideration’ foreign investor’s concerns over the lack of information available in English language

Administration “will take into consideration” foreign businessmen’s concerns over the lack of information available in English language in Macau, Legal Reform Office director Chu Lam Lam said yesterday.
“We know there are already many foreign investors operating in Macau,” she told Macau Daily Times. “Some laws, including a few on investment, are already translated [into English], while others are not,” the official added.
For instance, the Government Printing Bureau released an English-translation of Macau’s Trade Code in 2003. The Basic Law, banking and insurance supervision laws and intellectual property legislation – currently being revised – have also been translated into English.
However, as University of Macau professor Jorge Godinho stressed in an article published by Macau Business, all these translations are unofficial and suffer from “a clear lack of consistency in legal terminology”, which means investors still need professional legal advice.
Last August the British Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau, Andrew Seaton, told MDTimes the main concern of British companies operating in the territory is the use of English language in a territory where Cantonese and Portuguese are the official languages. “There should be more official information available in English,” he said, especially when it comes to regulations, laws and other legal matters.
On January 1, the existing International Law Office and the Law Reform Office will be merged into a new Services Bureau. The new structure will be a “more effective central mechanism” for the revision of Macau’s legislation, secretary for Administration and Justice Florinda Chan promised in October.
On one hand, Chu Lam Lam explained, the new bureau will coordinate the legislative works being carried out in all the public services. A yearly legislative plan, similar to the one presented by Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On during the 2011 Policy Address, will then be prepared.
The legal projects will be sent for the Legislative Assembly (AL) “in different phases, to ensure an easier discussion by the lawmakers,” she said. In August, AL president Lau Cheok Va had criticised the “imbalance” in the legislative workload, stressing the Government had submitted eight bills at once, not long before the lawmakers were to enter their summer break.
On the other hand, Chu said, this new bureau will monitor how the legislative works are going. The Government services “will have to explain themselves in case of delay and will be accountable to the Chief Executive,” she emphasised.

V.Q.