Lawmaker-cum-lawyer Vong Hin Fai, who heads the legislature’s 3rd Standing Committee, said yesterday that his committee will launch a public consultation on the civil registration amendment bill.
Vong briefed the media after a closed-door meeting of his committee which is reviewing a government-initiated bill to amend the current law regulating civil registrations, the outline of which was passed during a plenary session earlier this month.
The bill proposes that the Civil Affairs Registry can accept divorce by the mutual agreement of couples with underage children. Vong pointed out that some of the committee members have expressed doubts about whether the bill would protect the rights of underage children of parents getting divorced without a child custody agreement by the divorcees. Therefore, he said, the bill proposes that without such an agreement the Public Prosecutions Office could get involved in order to protect the underage children’s rights.
Vong said that the committee’s legal advisors underlined that if the divorcees decided not to accept the Public Prosecutions Office’s decision on the matter, the case would have to be transferred to the courts which would then also require the hiring of lawyers and payment of all the respective costs.
Therefore, Vong said his committee will start to collect citizens’ views on the amendment bill from today to July 19, as the bill “is closely related to people’s lives.”
Vong added that the committee will also listen to the views of the Judicial Council, the Public Prosecutors’ Committee and the Macau Lawyers Association (AAM), as Vong said the matter has a lot to do with the legal profession.
Vong chairs the Macau Lawyers Association.
The government-initiated civil registration amendment bill will continue to be reviewed by the lawmakers, after which it will be passed back to a plenary session for its final debate and vote.
Vong underlined that anyone is welcome to submit their views to his committee in writing or by electronic means.
The legislature’s 3rd Standing Committee President Vong Hin Fai speaks during yesterday’s press briefing about a government-initiated bill to amend the current Civil Registration Law.
– Photo Ginnie Liang
