20,000 EXPECTED AT HUSBAND FIGHTS TO HELP US WIFE ROSENQVIST LUSOFONIA FESTIVAL HELD IN CHINA FOR SPYING RETURNS This year’s Lusofonia Phan Phan-Gillis is still awaiting Festival will take place from trial, consigned to an unknown TO TRY 3RD WIN October 21 to 23 with a fate in a highly opaque and smaller budget impenetrable legal system P5 P7 P10-11 FRI.07 Oct 2016 T. 25º/ 31º C H. 65/ 95% facebook.com/mdtimes + 11,000 MOP 7.50 2659 N.º HKD 9.50 FOUNDER & PUBLISHER Kowie Geldenhuys EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Paulo Coutinho www.macaudailytimes.com.mo “ THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’ ” LAWYER ALERTS China treaties may apply to Macau, HK 7 P2-3 MDT REPORT days to go NEW TDM RADIO SHOW WORLD BRIEFS ‘Tagay Pinoy FM98’ brings ‘good AP PHOTO vibes’ to Filipino listeners P6 MDT REPORT UNITED NATIONS Portugal’s Antonio Guterres, who was formally approved yesterday to be the next U.N. secretary- general, said he faces “huge challenges” and hopes to see unity and consensus during his term. Guterres was approved by acclamation. The Security Council’s recommendation now goes to the U.N.’s 193-member General Assembly, which is expected to vote on Ban Ki-moon’s successor next week. More on p14 AP PHOTO EAST TIMOR Two East Timorese journalists are going on trial in a criminal defamation case brought by the country’s prime minister that has alarmed press freedom groups. Raimundos Oki and his former boss Lourenco Vicente Martins are charged with “slanderous denunciation” and face up to three years in prison if found guilty. The trial is set to begin today. Rights groups have urged that the case be dropped. More on backpage INSIDE 07.10.2016 fri th Anniversary 2 MACAU 澳聞 WWW.MACAUDAILYTIMES.COM.MO JORGE MENEZES Q&A LAWYER ‘The bilateral treaties to which China is a party tend to apply to Macau’ AWYER Jorge Menezes tain standards of conduct be national laws, particularly the Lcomments on a case judged followed by each party regar- Vienna Convention on the Law by the Singapore International ding foreign investors from the of Treaties and the Vienna Con- JM - Yes. But the court Macau could bring internatio- Arbitration Center (SIAC) in- other party. vention on Succession of States, applied a rule of public inter- nal arbitrations against the Ma- volving a Macau-based Ameri- to conclude that, despite a cer- national law according to which cau government if they come to can company (see page 3). MDT - Bearing in mind tain level of autonomy granted the parties’ position after the believe that Macau did not fulfil that Singapore is not a to Macau by the 1987 PRC-Por- dispute has arisen is no longer obligations enshrined in trea- Macau Daily Times - You party to this bilateral trea- tugal Joint Declaration and the relevant. It is called the ‘critical ties entered by China with other have been a lawyer for ty, why was this decision Basic Law, the bilateral treaties date’ doctrine. This doctrine countries. Sanum. How relevant is taken by a Singaporean to which China is party also prevents the contracting party this decision for the dispu- court? tends to apply to Macau. The being sued from relying on evi- MDT - What treaties are te? JM - The parties to the dispu- court conveys that the default dence that was generated only we talking about, and what Jorge Menezes - Yes, but te chose Singapore as the seat position under international law after the dispute had arisen. do you think that should be I was not involved in this dis- of the arbitration. And accor- is that the Chinese treaties wou- Hence, it disregarded those le- done? pute in Singapore, nor the ding to the relevant laws, the ld automatically apply to Macau tters. JM -I don’t know as I haven’t Arbitration to which this Sin- seat of the arbitration determi- upon its reversion to China. The researched it. But I believe that gapore Judgment refers. This nes which courts have jurisdic- China-Laos BIT applies to Ma- MDT - How relevant is Macau should take this seriou- decision is relevant because it tion over the arbitration and its cau upon the handover unless this to Macau? sly. This is a very well-written reverts a decision from a Sin- award, as well as the law gover- the two parties did something to JM - This is overwhelmingly and grounded judgment from a gapore lower court which held ning such disputes. Although exclude the applicability of the relevant to Macau because it te- reputed court that seconded an that Sanum could not resolve arbitral awards are not nor- BIT to Macau. lls us that Macau may be under eminent international Arbitra- its disputes with the Laos Go- mally appealable, they can still Therefore, it is presumed that international obligations that tion Tribunal. We now have two vernment through internatio- be challenged in court if they the BIT would extend to Macau we had not envisaged. This in- influential voices advancing the nal arbitration. The Singapore did not meet certain standards from December 1999. The court fluential judgment is telling us same arguments and conclu- Court of Appeal Judgment de- of due process. tells us that the internal rules all that under public interna- sions. Macau needs to know to termines that the Arbitration of a country (including the Ba- tional law, the treaties to which the utmost detail what its in- can proceed. Therefore, Sanum MDT - Why is this deci- sic Law) do not override inter- China is a party do extend to ternational obligations are. Our will now continue prosecuting sion being deemed so rele- national law: internal laws of a Macau, unless China excluded legislators, our officials, our its arbitration action against vant by experts in the field? state cannot be invoked to jus- Macau through the appropriate companies and business peo- the Laos Government under JM - The law on international tify the non-performance of a international procedure. Ac- ple need to know. For instan- the Bilateral Investment Treaty arbitrations is similar throu- treaty. We should bear in mind cording to the doctrine cited by ce, we cannot legislate [while] between China and Laos. ghout the world, as countries that the treaty is between two the court, treaties to which Por- ignoring potentially applicable tend to follow a common model parties, China and Laos, and tugal was party ceased being treaties. Not knowing our in- MDT - What was decided law. More importantly, Singa- the internal position of one of applicable to Macau in Decem- ternational obligations may in the previous decision pore, where SIAC is located, is the parties should not suffice to ber 1999; and treaties to which place Macau in the position of from a Singapore High one of the three most relevant take a position that affects both. China was party would extend producing legislation and en- Court judge? arbitration centres in the wor- to Macau upon China resuming gaging in practices that breach JM - The High Court took the ld together with New York and MDT - But wasn’t it the sovereignty of this territory, such obligations. We need to view, contrary to a rather emi- London, and surely the most case that both China and unless steps had been taken to know. The Macau Government nent Arbitration Tribunal, that used and reputed one in Asia. Laos produced documents disapply the presumption de- should appoint an informal the Bilateral Investment Treaty There is a strong jurispruden- informing that their view, rived from international law in group of jurists and experts that (BIT) – which had been entered ce in Singapore on internatio- as contracting parties, was the context of state succession would list all Chinese treaties to into by China in 1993 – did not nal arbitrations, with very ex- that the treaty would not in relation to a particular treaty. which this doctrine may apply cover the Macau SAR. He was perienced and knowledgeable extend to Macau? In other words, there is a whole and extend to Macau, then see also of the view that the parti- judges. This, together with the set of public international law whether this doctrine applies to cular dispute in question was fact that there are many arbi- obligations and rights that, pur- each of them or not. not within the BIT scope. trations conducted in Singapo- suant to this judgment’s doctri- Finally, a political position re, presents this as of extreme ne, apply to Macau. It may be would have to be taken together MDT - The Court of Appeal relevance. Also, I believe this Macau may the case that Macau residents with China. We need to under- took a different view on is the first time that an Arbi- be under and local companies have righ- take a procedure that clarifies these matters… tration Tribunal and a Court ts over third countries that we which rules apply to Macau and JM - The Court of Appeal de- looked, from an international international didn’t know we had. which don’t. We can’t just pre- cided that the BIT actually co- law’s viewpoint, into the impact And the reverse is also true. tend that this didn’t happen. vers the Macau territory and, of Macau’s handover to China. obligations that Macau may be under inter- Transparency is one of the on the other hand, that the dis- national obligations towards most relevant principles of the pute fell within the BIT, which MDT - What view did the we had not foreign countries and foreign rule of law, and so is knowing aims at protecting the foreign Court of Appeal take on envisaged investors that the government in advance what our rights and investment in another party’s this matter? .