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(Adopted at the 12th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress on October 31, 1999)
It is provided in Article 145 of the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter
referred to as the Basic Law for short) that "Upon the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region, the laws previously
in force in Macao shall be adopted as laws of the Region except for those which the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
declares to be in contravention of this Law. If any laws are later discovered to be in contravention of this Law, they shall be amended
or cease to have force in accordance with the provisions of this Law and legal procedure." Article 8 of the Basic Law stipulates,
"The laws, decrees, administrative regulations and other normative acts previously in force in Macao shall be maintained, except
for any that contravenes this Law, or subject to any amendment by the legislature or other relevant organs of the Macao Special Administrative
Region in accordance with legal procedures." In accordance with the provisions mentioned above, the Standing Committee of the Ninth
National People's Congress at its 12th Meeting deliberated the proposal of the Preparatory Committee for the Macao Special Administrative
Region on handling the laws previously in force in Macao and adopted the decision as follows:
1. The laws, decrees, administrative regulations and other normative acts previously in force in Macao, except for any that contravenes
the Basic Law, shall be adopted as laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region.
2. The laws previously in force in Macao, listed in Appendix I of this Decision, which are in contravention of the Basic Law shall
not be adopted as laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region.
3. The laws previously in force in Macao, listed in Appendix II of this Decision, which are in contravention of the Basic Law
shall not be adopted as laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region, however, before new laws are formulated by the Macao Special
Administrative Region, the relevant matters shall be handled in accordance with the principles prescribed in the Basic Law or by
adhering to the previous practices mutatis mutandis.
4. The laws previously in force in Macao in which there are provisions that are in contravention of the Basic Law and which are therefore
listed in Appendix III of this Decision shall not be adopted as laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region.
5. The laws previously in force in Macao, which have been adopted as laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region, shall be applied
as of December 20, 1999 with such modifications, adaptations, restrictions and exceptions as may be necessary for making them conform
with the status of Macao after the People's Republic of China resumes the exercise of sovereignty over it and with the relevant provisions
of the Basic Law.
In addition to the above-mentioned principle, the following provisions shall be conformed with when applying the laws previously
in force:
(1) The preamble and signatures shall not be maintained or regarded as component parts of the laws of the Macao Special Administrative
Region.
(2) Where the provisions relating to the diplomatic affairs of the Macao Special Administrative Region are found inconsistent with
the national laws coming into effect in the Macao Special Administrative Region, the national laws shall prevail, and the provisions
shall be made in keeping with the international rights enjoyed by the Central People's Government and the international obligations
it undertakes.
(3) No provisions which accord privileges to Portugal shall be maintained with the exception of the reciprocity provisions in connection
with Macao and Portugal.
(4) The provisions relating to land ownership shall be construed in accordance with the provisions in Article 7 of the Basic Law.
(5) The provision that the Portuguese language is superior to the Chinese language in terms of legal effect shall be construed as
that both the Chinese and Portuguese languages are the official languages; in provisions where it is required that the Portuguese
language or both the Portuguese and Chinese languages be used, the matter shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions in
Article 9 of the Basic Law.
(6) The provisions for assessing professional qualifications or qualifications for practice in the various professions, which embody
unfairness as a result of Portugal control over Macao, may, as a transitional arrangement, continue to be applied mutatis mutandis
in accordance with the provisions in Article 129 of the Basic Law before they are amended by the Macao Special Administrative Region.
(7) The provisions regarding the capacities and posts of the Portuguese and other foreign nationals who are employed from outside
Macao as public servants shall be construed in accordance with the provisions in Article 99 of the Basic Law.
(8) If the provisions in the Portuguese laws that are quoted in Macao laws do not jeopardize the sovereignty of the People's Republic
of China or contravene the provisions of the Basic Law, they may, as a transitional arrangement, continue to be applied mutatis mutandis
before they are amended by the Macao Special Administrative Region.
6. On condition that the provisions in Article 5 are conformed with, the substitution rules prescribed in Appendix IV of this Decision
shall be followed when interpreting or applying the words and expressions in the laws previously in force in Macao which are adopted
as laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region, except that they mean otherwise.
7. If the laws previously in force in Macao which are adopted as laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region are later discovered
to be in contravention of the Basic Law, they may be amended or cease to have force in accordance with the provisions of the Basic
Law and legal procedure.
All the Portuguese Laws which were previously in force in Macao, including the laws which were specially formulated for Macao by
the sovereignty authority of Portugal, shall cease to have force in the Macao Special Administrative Region with effect from December
20, 1999.
Appendix I
The following laws, decrees, administrative regulations and other normative acts previously in force in Macao are in contravention
of the Basic Law and therefore shall not be adopted as laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region:
1. No.5/M Law governing the language level for admission to public service and promotion;
2. Regulations on Election of the Legislative Council of Macao-No.4/91/M Law;
3. Charter of Members of the Assembly and its Amendment (No.7/93/M, No.10/93/M and No.1/95/M Laws);
4. No.42/82/M and No.36/89/M Decrees regarding establishment of various medals to cite significant deeds performed for this region;
5. No.58/84/M Decree regarding the competent entity to negotiate with foreign public entities on contracts or agreements involving
public administration of this region;
6. No.81/88/M and No.10/92/M Decrees regarding the retirement system for the Portuguese missionaries in the Far East;
7. General Rules for the Advisory Committee and the System for Its Election-No.51/91/M Decree;
8. No.11/92/M Decree regarding examination of the regulations on granting and issuing of passports in Macao;
9. No.17/92/M, No.18/92/M, No.55/92/M, No.45/96/M, No.28/97/M, No.8/98/M and No.10/99/M Decrees regarding standardization of the
judicial system of Macao;
10. No.5/93/M Decree regarding clarification of the application scope of the first paragraph of Article 13 of the General Rules for
the Public Administrators of Macao;
11. No.20/99/M Decree regarding the interpretation on the issues relating to the Statement on Authorization of the Power of Final
Adjudication and the Power of Exclusive Adjudication by the Portuguese President to the Court of Macao; and
12. Charter of the Legislative Council-No.1/93/M Resolution of the Legislative Council.
Appendix II
The following laws and decrees among the laws previously in force in Macao and contravene the Basic Law and therefore shall not be
adopted as laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region; however, before new laws are formulated by the Macao Special Administrative
Region, the relevant matters may be handled in accordance with the principles prescribed in the Basic Law and by referring to the
previous practices:
1. No.6/86/M Law on regulating the public property system for the waters of Macao;
2. No.60/92/M and No.37/95/M Decrees on setting down the rules and regulations for recruiting persons from the Republic of Portugal
to perform their duties in Macao; and
3. No.19/99/M Decree regarding the new system for the examination and issue of the identity cards of Macao residents.
Appendix III
The following provisions of the laws and decrees among the laws previously in force in Macao contravene the Basic Law and therefore
shall not be adopted as provisions of laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region:
1. The provisions in the Land Ratification Law (Law No. 6/80/M) on land selling and the provisions that the Portuguese legal corporations
that have the capacity for the right to own real estate shall have the right to obtain the special license for ownership or use of
land;
2. The fifth paragraph of Article 18 of the Registration of Voters (Law No.10/88/M);
3. The provisions in the Legal System of Urban Administrative District (Law No.24/88/M), which embody the nature of political power
in the urban authorities;
4. The first paragraph of Article 59 and of Article 60 of the Law No.8/89/M on the legal system for audio- and visual-broadcast;
5. Articles 2, 17 and 41 of the Senior Commission Against Corruption and Against Violation of Administrative Laws (Law No.11/90/M);
6. Amendment by the Law No.1/96/M to the Election System for the Legislative Council of Macao;
7. The first paragraph of Article 10 and the second paragraph of Article 21 of the Decree No.41/83/M on prescribing the rules for
preparing the forms of Statements for the gross budgets of the Region and for public accounting books and their implementation and
management, for preparing business accounting books and examining financial activities in public administration of Macao;
8. Article 30 of the Decree No.90/88/M on the general requirements on;
9. The provisions applicable to the Portuguese extradition law in Articles 38 and 42 of the Decree No.5/91/M on treating trafficking
and using narcotics as criminal acts and promoting anti-drug measures;
10. Article 1 of the Decree No.19/92/M on revising the provisions on establishment of security forces;
11. Item D of the first paragraph of Article 50 of the Highway Code (the Decree No.16/93/M);
12. The provision on providing technical assistance for election in the Republic of Portugal and registration of voters in Item A
of Article 14 of the Decree No.23/94/M regarding the restructuring of the administrative and public service departments;13. The provision
on "the Memorial Day" in Article 44 of the Decree No.2/95/M regarding the restructuring of the inspection teams of the harbour police;
14. The provision on "the Memorial Day" in Article 69 of the Decree No.3/95/M regarding the restructuring of the police department
for public security;
15. The provision on "the Memorial Day" in Article 41 of the Decree No.4/95/M regarding the restructuring of the fire brigade;
16. The fifth paragraph of Article 19 of the Decree No.15/95/M on examining and approving the organic statutes regarding the Port
Authority of Macao;
17. The provisions on "the military personnel" in tables 5 and 6 attached to the Decree No.17/95/M on readjusting the tables attached
to the General Rules for the Public Administrators of Macao; and
18. Item B of the second paragraph of Article 5 of the Decree No.55/95/M on revising the general system for entry into, stay and
settling down in Macao.
Appendix IV
The words and expressions in the laws previously in force in Macao which are adopted as laws of the Macao Special Administrative
Region, when construed or applied, shall be subject to the following substitution rules:
1. Any reference to "Portugal," "the State of Portugual," "the Portuguese Government," "the Republic," "the President of the Republic,"
"the Government of the Republic" and "the ministers of the Government" and other similar names or expressions, if the provision involves
the affairs within the responsibilities of the Central Authorities and relationship between the Central Authorities and the Region
as prescribed by the Basic Law, shall be construed correspondingly as a reference to China, the Central Authorities or other competent
State organs, and under other circumstances, as the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region.
2. Any reference to "Macao", "the Macao region", "this region" and "the Macao legal territory" shall be construed as a reference
to "the Macao Special Administrative Region". Any description of the territory of the Macao Special Administrative Region shall be
applicable after being correspondingly interpreted in accordance with the administrative division map of the Macao Special Administrative
Region promulgated by the State Council.
3. Any reference to "the Court of the Legal Territory of Macao", "the common jurisdiction court", "the Administrative Court", "the
High Court" and "the Commission of Prosecutors" or other similar names or expressions shall be correspondingly construed as a reference
to the Court of the Macao Special Administrative Region, the primary court, the Administrative Court, the intermediate court or the
procuratorate.
4. Any reference to "the Governor" and "the Governor of Macao" shall be construed as a reference to the Chief Executive of the Macao
Special Administrative Region.
5. Any reference to the Legislative Council, the Judiciary or the Executive Authorities and their staff or other similar names or
expressions shall be construed or applied correspondingly in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Basic Law.
6. Any reference to "the People's Republic of China", "China" and "the State" or other similar names or expressions shall be construed
as a reference to the People's Republic of China including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao; any reference to the Mainland, Taiwan, Hong
Kong and Macao, separately or together, shall be correspondingly construed as a reference to a component part of the People's Republic
of China.
7. Any reference to "foreign country" or "other State" and other similar words or expressions shall be construed as a reference to
any country or region other than the People's Republic of China or, in accordance with the contents of the law or the provision,
shall be construed as a reference to "any place other than the Macao Special Administrative Region"; and any reference to "foreign
national" or other similar words or expressions shall be construed as a reference to any person other than the citizen of the People's
Republic of China.
8. Any reference to "the Court of Audit" and "the Senior Commission Against Corruption and Against Violation of Administrative Laws"
or other similar names or expressions shall be construed as a reference to "the Commission of Audit" and "the Independent Commission
Against Corruption".
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