News

The Chief Executive, Edmund Ho Hau Wah, stressed today that both efficiency and quality must be observed in the judicial process facing the new challenges created by rapid development. Mr Ho, speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2005/2006 Judicial Year, said that some of Macao's laws had yet to adapt to the rapid development, which would definitely give rise to more intense conflicts. It was predictable that the Judiciary would face many new tasks and a heavier workload. Thus it was up to everyone, including the Judiciary to find a way to deal with the situation feasibly, he said. ''Certainly, we must clearly realise that efficiency and quality are the two faces of the same coin and it is certainly our goal to achieve harmony between the two,'' said Mr Ho. ''We should not ignore quality in the pursuit of efficiency or to sacrifice justice and impartiality of law in exchange for performances that could not stand the test of time''. He said that faced with rapid development, judges should understand the reasonable aspirations of the public and be committed to solve situations of incompatibility between the pre-occupation of the public and the reality prescribed by the law. Mr Ho urged the judges, judicial staff and academics to contribute more to the usage of Chinese in the judiciary, without compromising the rigidity of law, or judicial quality and efficiency. In the past judicial year, the establishment of the Court for Minor Civil Cases and the processing of civil and criminal cases in separate courts demonstrated the Judiciary's efforts to enhance the operation of the courts, he said. Mr Ho said the Macao SAR Basic Law was the source of SAR's judicial power, and he was glad to see that the courts and the Public Prosecutor's Office exercised their power independently and put into practice the ''One Country Two System'' policy. At the same ceremony, the President of the Court of Final Appeal, Mr Sam Hou Fai, said that in the previous judicial year, Macao had made significant progress in the reorganisation of the judicial system as well as the training of judges, prosecutors and judicial assistants and had increased the use of Chinese in the courts. The Prosecutor General, Mr Ho Chio Meng said that like many other countries and regions, we are faced with two challenges: first, the incompatibility between social development and the law and second, limited resources and the growth of demand in the judicial process. He said that to fulfill the public's expectation to the Judiciary efficiently and impartially was the issue that needs to be addressed most urgently. Both Sam Hou Fai and Ho Chio Meng said that it was necessary to enhancing the Judiciary's efficiency and quality.
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Macau's Andre Couto, the only local winner so far of the prestigious Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix in 2000, is confirmed as the fifth driver in the Alfa Romeo 156 works team for the final round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship in Macau on November 17-20. Couto will join fellow Alfa Romeo drivers Briton James Thompson, Brazil's Augusto Farfus Jr, and the Italian duo of Gabriele Tarquini and Championship contender Fabrizio Giovanardi, in the FIA WTCC LG – Guia Race of Macau – Presented by Sociedade de Jogos de Macau. S.A. No stranger to Macau's demanding 6.2km street circuit, Couto has competed both in single seaters and, in recent years, in the region's premier touring car race. Neither is he a stranger to Alfa Romeo, racing in Macau in 2003 in a 147 in the SJM Guia Race, taking pole position for Leg One. Said the 29-year-old: "It is a tremendous honour for me to be flying the flag for Macau amongst the best touring car drivers in the world. I am certainly relishing the prospect of competing in the final round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship next month in front of my fellow Macau residents who are always so supportive of my racing career." Having started racing in karts, Couto competed in the Formula Opel Euro Series in 1995, before graduating to Formula 3 the following year. In 1998, he made the step up to International F3000. In 2001, he competed in the Japan GT Championship and Formula Nippon, and joined the Formula Nissan World Series in 2002. He contested the FIA European Touring Car Championship in 2003, before competing in the Japan GT Championship – this year re-named the Super GT Series – for the last two years. Macau has produced a number of "home grown" drivers and riders, many of whom are now competing at a regional level such as single seater young-gun Rodolfo Avila for whom Couto has been an inspiration and mentor. The FIA WTCC LG – Guia Race of Macau – Presented by Sociedade de Jogos de Macau. S.A. will be held on Sunday, November 20, beginning at 11:40am. Further information may be found on the Official Macau Grand Prix Website at www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo
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In line with the Macau Grand Prix Committee’s pledge to constantly seek new and more exciting avenues through which to promote South East Asia’s most established international motorsport event, the Macau Grand Prix Committee and the Macau Government Tourist Office had the last weekend for the fist time a major promotion at the Formula 1 Grand Prix of China in Shanghai. Inside the 382 square metre area, in a prime position to attract the thousands of visitors to the event, the pit garages were recreated and contained the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix-winning cars of Michael Schumacher (winner in 1990), David Coulthard (1991) and Takuma Sato (2001), on loan from the Macau Grand Prix Museum. In addition, visitors also had a chance to get close to a selection of touring cars plus the motorcycles of two-wheel legends Ron Haslam and Michael Rutter. Racing girls were hand to add to the atmosphere and to make family photographs all the more special. As well as recreating the excitement of the Macau Grand Prix, the exhibit also highlighted the Historic Centre of Macau, newly inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in July this year. With so many friends of the Macau Grand Prix in the Formula 1 paddock – from drivers and race officials to reporters and photographers – the President of the FIA, Max Mosley, FIA Formula 1 World Championship and Macau Grand Prix Race Director Charles Whiting, FIA Steward and Macau Grand Prix Steward Tony-Scott Andrews, FIA Scrutineer and Macau Grand Prix Scrutineer Jo Bauer, Red Bull Racing David Coulthard and BAR Honda F1 driver Takuma Sato came to visit the exhibit. Mr. Shi Tianshu, President of the Federation of Automobile Sports of China, and Mr. Yuzifei, General Manager of the Shanghai International Circuit Management and Development Co. Ltd visited the booth.
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Information from Statistics and Census Service indicated that Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the third quarter of 2005 was 108.06, up by 0.16% over the previous quarter. Due to rising prices in cosmetics, hotel guest rooms and jewellery, indices of Medicine and personal goods, Accommodation and Miscellaneous goods rose by 1.45%, 0.55% and 0.50% respectively. On the other hand, Clothing and footwear was the only section that recorded a drop (-2.45%) in the index, which was resulted from reduced prices in summer clothing and footwear. Compared with the third quarter of 2004, TPI rose by 1.59% in this quarter, of which notable increases were recorded in the indices of Restaurant service (+4.02%), Medicine and personal goods (+3.65%), as well as Entertainment and culture (+3.19%). In addition, the average TPI for the four quarters ended in the third quarter of 2005 surged by 3.19% over the previous period. TPI is an indicator used to reflect the price changes of goods and services purchased by visitors, which is compiled based on the consumption pattern of visitors derived from the Visitor Expenditure Survey. TPI covers 8 sections of goods and services, namely Food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco, Clothing and footwear, Accommodation, Restaurant service, Transport and communications, Medicine and personal goods, Entertainment and culture, as well as Miscellaneous goods. The base year of TPI is from July 1999 to June 2000.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, has written the State Council offering his congratulations on the successful launch and smooth return of the Shenzhou VI manned spacecraft. Mr Ho, on behalf of the Macao SAR Government and the people of Macao, extended the warmest congratulations and highest regards to the motherland and all the participants in the Shenzhou VI mission, astronauts Mr Fei Junlong and Mr Nie Haisheng, and everyone who had contributed directly or indirectly to the mission. The mission not only demonstrated the great strength of the motherland, its advance technology and the excellence of the nation’s elites “but also demonstrated the selfless, fearless and the challenging spirit of the Chinese nation,” Mr Ho said. He said the successes of the country’s space missions offered great enlightenments for the people of Macao. Mr Ho stressed that the excellent qualities demonstrated by the space missions, such as scientific and practical approach, the urge to improve and challenge oneself, the bravery to undertake responsibilities and risks for a great achievement, was the driving force for the success of “One Country Two Systems”, which gave rise to the developments of Macao SAR. Mr Ho also suggested in his letter to the State Council that he would like to invite to Macao the astronauts and the team who mastered the project, so they could share their experience with the people here.
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Beginning tomorrow, October 17, at 6:30 pm, in the Legal and Judicial Training Centre (Luso-International Bank Building, 10th floor), is a Seminar on “Tourism and Gaming Law”, included in the Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field between the European Union and Macao. This seminar will take place daily, between 6:30 and 8:30 pm, until Friday, October 21, and will have as its speaker Fernando Martínez Sanz, Professor at the University Jaume I de Castelló, in Spain. Throughout the five days, several subjects will be approached included in two modules dedicated, respectively, to “Tourism Law” and “Some Topics on Gaming Law”. Under the title of “Tourism Law”, beside the introduction, will be discussed the following topics: “European Law in the field of Tourism: Protection of consumers”, “Time sharing: directive 94/47/EC, 26.10.1994. Basic problems”, “Package holidays and package tours: directive 90/314/EEC, 13.06.1990” and “Management Agreements – ‘Hotel management’ and ‘Theme parks and recreation facilities’”. Under the title of “Some Topics on Gaming Law”, after the introduction, will be discussed the following topics: “Casinos – ‘Licences: brief reference’ and ‘Refusal of acceptance’”, “Gaming and liberalisation: Lotteries and State monopoly” and “Gaming and Internet: problems and solutions – ‘Obstacles to transnational bets’ and ‘The position of the European authorities’”. The seminar is organised by the Legal and Judicial Training Centre and will be conducted in English. It specially targets law degree holders, entrepreneurs and economists, having around 40 local participants registered to attend. The Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field between the European Union and Macao, in which this seminar is integrated, has as its main objective the “Consolidation of the Macao Legal System”. Currently in its fourth year of execution, the Co-operation Programme will proceed until February 2007. The total budget for the programme is of 1.980.000 euros, shared in equal parts by the European Union and Macao. The co-ordination of the Co-operation Programme is at the responsibility of the International Law Office, being the organisation of the pertaining activities ensured by several other entities of the MSAR’s Government, namely the Legal and Judicial Training Centre, the Legal Affairs Bureau, the Economic Services and the Institute of European Studies, other than the International Law Office itself.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that in August 2005, visitor arrivals in package tours totalled 255,237, up 13.2% over August 2004. Visitors from Mainland China (199,140) increased 10.1% year-on-year; visitors from Taiwan, China (21,080) increased 3.6% and those from Hong Kong (18,669) jumped 68.0%. In the first eight months of 2005, arrivals in package tours grew 7.1% over the same period of 2004 to 1,735,570. Number of Macao residents travelling in package tours totalled 42,396 in August 2005, a year-on-year increase of 29.6%. Mainland China, Thailand and Taiwan, China were the three more popular tour itineraries, which accounted for 83.1%, 4.8% and 3.4% of the total respectively. In the first eight months of 2005, Macao residents travelling in package tours surged 44.0% compared with the same period of 2004. Meanwhile, 35,872 Macao residents travelled under own arrangements with the assistance of travel agencies, an increase of 12.1% over August 2004; Mainland China (36.1%), Hong Kong (27.3%) and Taiwan, China (16.1%) were the major destinations. In the first eight months of 2005, Macao residents travelling under such arrangements rose 4.9% compared with the same period of 2004. At the end of August 2005, there were 10,549 rooms available in hotels and similar establishments, an increase of 1,268 rooms (+13.7%) over August 2004. In August 2005, a total of 384,807 guests checked into hotels and similar establishments in Macao, up 2.1% over August 2004. The average hotel occupancy rate fell by 6.6 percentage points to 75.8% compared with the same month of 2004, the highest average was in 3-star hotels, at 90.3%. The average length of stay of hotel guests showed an increase of 0.01 night over August 2004 to 1.16 nights. The majority of the guests came from Mainland China (54.4%), Hong Kong (32.6%) and Taiwan, China (3.2%). In the first eight months of 2005, number of hotel guests recorded a year-on-year growth of 1.6% to 2,669,213. In the first eight months of 2005, hotel guests (excluding Macao residents) accounted for 42.8% of the total number of tourists, which was lower than the 46.0% recorded in the same period of 2004.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, today appointed seven legislators, to complete the 29-member third Legislative Assembly, five of them for the first time. They are Mr Lei Pui Lam, Mr Sam Chan Lo, Mr Tsui Wai Kwan, Mr Chui Sai Peng, Mr Philip Xavier, Mr Ieong Tou Hong and Mr Lao Pun Lap. Mr Tsui and Mr Xavier were members of the second Assembly. In accordance with the Basic Law, the third Legislative Assembly consists of 29 legislators, 12 of whom are elected directly, 10 indirectly and seven appointed by the Chief Executive.
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The Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) has completed the preliminary report relating to the incident involving the slight touch of an Boeing 747-400 of EVA Airways and a CRJ-700 of CR Airways in Macau International Airport on 16 September 2005. In accordance with AACM’s “Aircraft Accident or Incident Investigation Procedure”, the Authority immediately set up an incident investigation team to conduct the investigation after the incident occurred, including site inspection and interviews with the relevant personnel to collect information. ADA-Administration of Airports Ltd. and the two air carriers also submitted relevant data. The preliminary report pointed out that the incident occurred at 13:29 on that day. A Hong Kong registered CRJ-700 of CR Airways was holding short runway at holding point of Taxiway D after having completed base crew training. A Taiwan registered Boeing 747-400 of EVA Airways was taxiing on Taxiway C2 and while passing behind the CRJ-700, its left winglet slightly struck the left horizontal stabilizer of the CRJ-700. At that time, the CRJ-700 only had 4 crew members while the Boeing 747-400 had 388 passengers and 17 crew members. No one was injured. According to the report, the Boeing’s winglet leading edge was found with skin crack and twist. The CRJ-700’s left horizontal stabilizer lower skin was found scratched. AACM stated that the content of the preliminary report related to the facts of the incident. The incident investigation team will continue to collect more information for in-depth investigation and analysis to determine the cause with a view to preventing recurrence in the future. The final report is expected to be completed after two months.
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Immigration authorities recorded a total of 1,830,863
crossing the five immigration checkpoints of the Macao SAR over the National Day Golden Week holidays (1 October to 7 October). Total number of arrivals stood at 916,758
with Border-gate: 729,995
Lotus Bridge: 4,514
Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal: 150,530
Inner Harbor Wharf Nº14: 12,826
Macao International Airport: 18,893 Total of departures stood at 914,105
with Border-gate: 763,748
Lotus Bridge: 5,101
Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal: 115,499
Inner Harbor Wharf Nº14: 8,783
Macao International Airport: 20,974 Meanwhile, total number of tourist arrivals in that period stood at 432,940
,with a growth of 8.36%
over the 399,537 arrivals in the same period of last year.
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