WORLD TRADE S/C/N/15
1March 1996
ORGANIZATION
(96-0763)
Original: English Council forTrade inServices
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TOARTICLE VII:4 OFTHE
GENERAL AGREEMENT ONTRADE INSERVICES
Thefollowing notification hasbeenreceived from thegovernment ofMacau.
____________
1. Members(s) notifying:
Government ofMacau
2. Notification under Article(s):
GATS Article VII
3. Date ofentry intoforce:
1January 1995
4. Agency responsible forenforcement ofthemeasure:
Cabinet oftheSecretary for
Economic andFinancial Affairs
RuedeS.Louren ço28,3
Macau
Telephone: +(853) 336961
Telefax: +(853) 343837
5. Description ofthemeasure:
Thefollowing areas fallunder Macau Public Administration supervision.
5.1 Health andwelfare
Inthefieldofhealth andwelfare, onlyprivate health careproviders, including members of
liberal professions, arerequired toholdlicenses.
Thelawgoverning licensing isDecree LawNo.84/90/M of31December.S/C/N/15
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Thefollowing professions arecovered bythislaw:
(a) doctor
(b) traditional Chinese doctor
(c) dentist
(d) odontologist
(e) nurse
(f) therapist
(g) masseur
(h) acupuncturist
(i) practioner oftraditional Chinese medicine
Licenses toengage inanyofthese professions areawarded bytheMacau Government Health
Department, thepublic bodyresponsible forimplementing thepolicies thattheMacau Administration
defines inthefieldHealth, andforcoordinating theactivities ofpublic andprivate health careproviders
(Decree LawNo.84/90/M of31December, Article 9,paragraph 1andDecree LawNo.29/92/M
of8June).
Professional aptitude toengage intheabove-mentioned professions isproven bymeans of
academic and/or specific professional qualifications.
Licences areawarded tothoseindividuals whose qualifications areofficially recognised asbeing
genuine proof ofprofessional capacity, either inMacau orinPortugal.
Licences arealsoawarded tothosepersons whoholdacademic and/or professional qualifications
obtained outside Macau orPortugal, oncethesehavebeenrecognised inMacau asbeing genuine proof
ofacapacity toengage intherelevant profession.
Thefollowing isthegeneral framework ofmeasures adopted forrecognising qualifications
obtained outside Macau orPortugal:
(a) None ofthemeasures forissuing licences toengage intherelevant professions isbased
onagreements orconventions with other countries orterritories concerning the
recognition oftraining, experience, licences orcertificates.
(b) Inthecaseofprofessions forwhich university levelacademic qualifications aredeemed
necessary, i.e.thatofadoctor, theissuing ofalicence toindividuals whohaveobtained
theirqualifications outside Macau orPortugal issubject toprior recognition oftheir
qualifications asbeing oftertiary level. Thisrecognition isrequested fromtheBureau
forCoordinating Higher Education (agovernment department) andisawarded onthe
basis ofanopinion issued byaconsultative committee consisting ofrepresentatives
ofvarious departments inthePublic Administration andfigures ofrecognised merit
inthefieldofhigher education.
(c) Recognition ofgenuine training fortheprofession ofpractioner oftraditional Chinese
medicineisprovidedbytheAssociationofPractionersofTraditionalChineseMedicine.
(d) RecognitionofotherkindsofprofessionaltrainingisprovidedbyTechnicalCommittees
within theMacau Government Health Department andthefollowing arerecognised:
(i) professional training received inestablishments whose competence toaward
qualifications isrecognised byaninternational organisation, i.e.WHO;S/C/N/15
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(ii) training received inestablishments inthePeople 'sRepublic ofChina whose
competence toteach suchcourses isrecognised bytherelevant government
authorities;
(iii) training received inestablishments whose competence isnotrecognised under
theterms of(a)and(b),whenever these institutions ensure, onthebasis of
therelevant course structure, aqualification which isthesameasthatawarded
oncompletion ofidentical courses inMacau orinPortugal, andsolongas
interested parties passanexamination forthispurpose, toberequested ontheir
owninitiative.
Thesystem forrecognising training required forengaging inprofessions providing
health care reflects Macau 'sstatus asaChinese territory under Portuguese
administration, interms ofinternational law.
5.2 Economic andfinancial affairs
Inthefieldoftheeconomy andfinances, onlyaccountants andauditors arerequired tohold
licences.
Decree LawNo.17/78/M contains thelegislation governing conditions ofentry andpractice
intheabove-mentioned professions, although adraftlawintended toreplace theexisting lawiscurrently
under discussion.
Asageneralrule,onlyauditorsandaccountantsregisteredintheFinanceDepartmentareallowed
tosignorauthenticate anyaccounting documents, namely statements ofincome.
Onlygraduates inaccountancy, finance, economics, management orbusiness management with
degrees awarded bycolleges oruniversity faculties mayregister asauditors.
Registration asanauditor oraccountant depends onadecision taken byaCommittee forthe
RegistrationofAccountantsandAuditors(CRAA)whichhasthepowersrequiredforissuingrecognition.
Decree LawNo.17/78/M allows theCRAA totakedecisions permitting theregistration of
accountants andauditors whoaremembers offoreign professional associations.
Asageneral criterion forthese cases, theCRAA hasthusallowed theregistration ofmembers
oftheprofessional associations recognised bytheHong Kong Society ofAccountants.
Inthiscase, theCRAA requires recognition oftheacademic qualifications intheform ofa
certificate issued bytherelevant body ofthePublic Administration incharge ofrecognition.
Under theterms ofArticle 7,paragraph 1ofthesame law,persons registered asAccounting
Clerks inPortugal 'sTaxDepartment arealsoallowed toregister asaccountants.
Finally, itshould benoted thatnoagreements orconventions onthissubject havebeensigned
byMacau, although there areinformal contacts withtheHong Kong Society ofAccountants.S/C/N/15
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5.3 Legal professions
InMacau, lawyers, private notaries andsolicitors areregarded asmembers ofliberal professions
practising inthefieldoftheJustice Department. Alicence mustbeheldinorder toengage inthese
professions andprofessional practice must conform tocertain specific requirements.
(a) Lawyers
Regulation ofaccess andaward oftheprofessional titleoflawyer andtrainee lawyer iscontrolled
bytheMacau Lawyers 'Association. TheMLA isacollective public body andisnotsubject to
guidelines issued byanyother collective public body.
Thelegislation governing theprofession oflawyer inMacau isasfollows:
- Articles ofAssociation oftheMacau Lawyers 'Association (Official Gazette 17/89)
- Decree LawNo.31/91/M of6May
- Decree LawNo.26/92/M of4May
- Regulations governing entry totheprofession oflawyer (Official Gazette 48/92)
- Order No.121/GM/92 of31December
- Decree LawNo.41/94/M of1August
- Administrative Ruling No.168/94/M of1August
- Decree LawNo.42/95/M of21August
- Order No.53/GM/95 of7September
Only lawyers andtrainee lawyers currently registered withtheMLA areentitled toengage
intheactivities inherent totheprofession, namely, carry outajudicial mandate orprovide legaladvice
within thescope ofaremunerated liberal profession, throughout Macau andinanyjurisdiction, court,
authority orpublic orprivate body.
University lawlecturers whoonlygivewritten legalopinions arenotregarded aspractising
lawandarethusnotrequired toregister withtheMLA.
Similarly, legaladvice provided bygraduates inlawwhoareemployed ascivilservants does
notrequire registration withtheMLA.
Thefollowing aretheconditions required forregistration asalawyer:
- Adegree inlawfrom theUniversity ofMacau oranyother lawdegree recognised
intheterritory
- Attendance ofthelawyers training course
Under theterms oftheregulations governing access totheprofession oflawyer, graduates
inlawfromuniversities other thanMacau should attend anadaptation course onMacau 'slegalsystem.
TheMLA isresponsible foroverseeing traineeships andtheprior adaptation course.
Theregulationsgoverningentryintotheprofessionoflawyerlisttherequirementsforexemption
from thetraineeship andtheprior adaptation course.
Registration asatrainee lawyer mayberequested bygraduates inlawfrom theUniversity
ofMacau andpersons withlawdegrees recognised intheTerritory, following attendance oftheprior
adaptationcourse,orexemptionfromattendanceofthesameunderthetermsoftheregulationsgoverning
entry intotheprofession oflawyer.S/C/N/15
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TheMLA mayreduce thelength oftheprior adaptation course forgraduates inlawfrom
universities incountries withsimilar legalsystems toMacau.
(b) Private notaries
Private notaries arespecial officers providing notary services, appointed byGovernor 'sOrder.
Qualifications, licensing andthepractice ofprivate notaries areregulated bythefollowing
legislation:
- Decree LawNo.80/90/M of31December
- Decree LawNo.81/90/M of31December
- Decree LawNo.9/91/M of31January
- Administrative Ruling No.40/91/M of25February
- Decree LawNo.58/92/M of24August
Former notaries, registrars, magistrates andPublic Prosecutors whohaveheldthese positions
inMacau andlawyers registered withtheMLA maybeappointed asprivate notaries. Thelatter may
onlybeappointed afterattending atraining course under theterms defined inDecree LawNo.9/91/M
of31January.
Private notaries havepowers toengage inallnotary acts,except thefollowing:
- public wills (wills lodged inregisters atpublic notaries)
- approval ofclosed wills (wills retained bytestator orproxy)
- opening closed wills
- notarial qualifications andjustifications
- pre-nuptial deeds
- repudiation ofinheritance involving immovables
- matters involving minors andthedisabled, eveniftheyaredulyrepresented
- protests
Private notaries aresworn intooffice andtaketheirprofessional oathinthepresence ofthe
Director theJustice Department. They arebound bythesame obligations ascivilservants except for
those concerning obedience andassiduity. They mustobeycirculars andgeneral decisions emanating
from theoffices oftheRegistration andNotary Department.
(c) Solicitors
Qualifications andlicensing toengage intheprofession ofsolicitor isregulated byDecree Law
No.35777of1August1946(OfficialGazetteNo.51/46).Thislawhasbeenpartiallyrevoked,however,
bytheLawofMacau 'sJudicial Organisation, No.112/91 of29August.
Examinations forentry intotheprofession ofsolicitor areheldintheCourt ofFirstInstance
inthepresence ofapanel consisting ofajudge, arepresentative fromtheOffice ofPublic Prosecutions
andalawyer.
Theexaminations consist ofawritten testandanoralexam which areessentially practical.
Candidates awarded licences areissued withasolicitor 'scharter.S/C/N/15
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Solicitors 'powers toengage inlegalactsisdefined invarious pieces oflegislation, namely
Article 32oftheCode ofCivil Procedure which allows solicitors tosubmit requests incourt solong
asthesedonotraiseanylegalissues, orArticle 34ofthesamelawwhich allows solicitors legalmandate
incases which donotnecessarily require theservices ofalawyer.
6. Members specifically affected, ifany:
None
7. Textavailable from:
Enquiry point