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An overview of Macao’s new arbitration law: provisional measures and recognition of arbitral awards

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Abstract

As a special administrative region of China, Macao preserves a previous continental European civil law system with a transition into a Chinese constitutional and legal framework, embedded in a mixture of Chinese and Portuguese legal culture. Since its return to China in 1999, Macao has seen a rapid economic growth in the past 20 years with a drastic social and economic change. To respond to the increasing number of civil and commercial disputes, Macao adopted a new arbitration law at the end of 2019 to facilitate and promote the use of arbitration as an alternative to the court litigation in settling civil and commercial disputes. With a comparison of the content of Macao’s former Law on Voluntary Arbitration (29/96/M) of 1996 and the New Arbitration Law in light of the region’s civil procedure system, this article will provide an overview and preliminary analysis on Macao’s New Arbitration Law of 2019, with a focus on the scope of application of the New Arbitration Law, provisional and interim measures, and recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards.

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Notes

  1. State Council of PRC https://www.bayarea.gov.hk/filemanager/en/share/pdf/Outline_Development_Plan.pdf Accessed 21 March 2022.

  2. Tong (2020, pp. 183–198); See also, (Tong and Wu 2021, p. 648).

  3. Wei (2011, pp. 25–42).

  4. Orlando (2004, pp. 66–67).

  5. The former Voluntary Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem Voluntária de Macao, Decreto-Lei n.° 29/96/M) 11 June 1996, Article 2, Para 1.

  6. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 6, on the subject matter of arbitration disputes.

  7. The Voluntary Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem Voluntária de Macao, Decreto-Lei n.° 29/96/M) 11 June 1996, Article 24.

  8. UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (amended in 2006) 7 July 2006,

    Article 17.

  9. The International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Rules (ICC Arbitration Rules) 1 January 2021, Article 29 of the Rules and Appendix V.

  10. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 2(7).

  11. Viriato Manuel Pinheiro de Lima (2008, p. 369).

  12. 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Articles 326 to 337.

  13. 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999,Articles 338 to 368.

  14. 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Article 327, Para 1.

  15. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 2(8).

  16. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 36 (‘Competence of the arbitral tribunal to order provisional measures’) and Article 37 (‘Elements of provisional measures’).

  17. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 44.

  18. 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Articles 326 to 337 (‘Ordinary provisional procedure’, Procedimento cautelar comum).

  19. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 38 (‘Request for and issuance of preliminary orders’) and Articles 39 (‘Specialised regime of preliminary orders’).

  20. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Chap 3.

  21. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 17.

  22. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 2(10).

  23. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 44.

  24. 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Articles 11(3) and Article 12.

  25. 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Article 677.

  26. Original article: A expressão “sentenças condenatórias” abrange todas aquelas decisões, judiciais ou arbitrais, cujo comando encerra uma condenação, sejam ou não proferidas em acções declarativas de condenação. Refer to Cândida (2015, p. 457).

  27. 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Articles 679(1) and Article 699(2).

  28. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 68; This is also identical to Article 35(2) of The former Voluntary Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem Voluntária de Macao, Decreto-Lei n.° 29/96/M) 11 June 1996.

  29. 澳門民法典 (Macao Civil Code) 3 August 1999, Articles 596 and Article 808; 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Articles 68(4), 704(1) and (2), 705–712 and 719.

  30. 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Article 696.

  31. Ibid.

  32. The principle of Kompetenz-Kompenz of arbitral courts by means of which judicial courts refrain themselves from interfering with arbitral courts ‘jurisdiction as to both avoid turf wars and give credence to the principle of party autonomy that underpins convenção de arbitragem. See Croft et al. (2013, p. 249).

  33. The Voluntary Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem Voluntária de Macao, Decreto-Lei n.° 29/96/M) 11 June 1996, Article 37.

  34. The Voluntary Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem Voluntária de Macao, Decreto-Lei n.° 29/96/M) 11 June 1996, Article 38.

  35. The Voluntary Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem Voluntária de Macao, Decreto-Lei n.° 29/96/M) 11 June 1996, Article 37.

  36. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 69.

  37. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 69, Para 6.

  38. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 69(7), which corresponds to Article 39(2) of The former Voluntary Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem Voluntária de Macao, Decreto-Lei n.° 29/96/M) 11 June 1996.

  39. 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Article 1199.

  40. 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Article 680, Para 1.

  41. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 1.

  42. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 70.

  43. Macao Court of Final Appeal Case No. 123/2020, 18 November 2020, Civil Procedure Appeal, Page 16.

  44. 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Article 1200.

  45. Tu (2013, pp. 321–322).

  46. 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Article 1204.

  47. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Chap 8.

  48. 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Article 1200, Para 1(a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) and Para 2.

  49. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 72, Para 1 and 2.

  50. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 72, Para 3 to 7; 澳門民事訴訟法典 (The Civil Procedure Code of Macao) 4 October 1999, Article 1201 and subsequent provisions.

  51. The Arbitration Law of Macao (Lei da Arbitragem, Decreto-Lei n.° 19/2019) 5 November 2019, Article 72, Para 8.

  52. Mistelis (2019).

  53. Born (2014, para 73).

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Funding

Funding was provided by Universidade de Macau (Grant No. MYRG2020-00111-FLL).

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  1. E32-2010, Faculty of Law, University of Macau, Avenida de Universidade, Taipa, Macao SAR, China

    Chao Wang & Zhuoxin Lin

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  1. Chao Wang
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Correspondence to Chao Wang.

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Wang, C., Lin, Z. An overview of Macao’s new arbitration law: provisional measures and recognition of arbitral awards. China-EU Law J 8, 107–121 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12689-023-00098-0

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