The University of Macau (UM) and the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China held an agreement signing and inauguration for their jointly established “Centre for Judicial and Legal Studies of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries [PSCs]” on Friday, the tertiary education institution said in a statement.
The statement noted that the Research Office and the Bureau of International Cooperation of the Supreme People’s Court provides guidance on the centre’s development direction and strategy, while UM’s Faculty of Law (FLL) oversees its daily operations. The centre’s main task includes the research and promotion of President Xi Jinping’s Thought on the Rule of Law and the setting-up of databases of cases in mainland China and PSCs, as well as legal information.
UM Rector Yonghua Song (aka Song Yonghua) said in a speech that the centre provides a new platform for interaction and embodies the new direction of international exchanges and cooperation in the new era.
Song added that the centre will provide more comprehensive, equitable, and transparent judicial services for economic prosperity and the building of a shared future for humanity, thereby facilitating the advancement of judicial work of all parties and the civilisation of the rule of law across the globe.
The statement said that Zhang Jun, president and chief justice of the Supreme People’s Court, noted in his concluding remarks that the centre’s establishment is an important initiative for the Supreme People’s Court and the Macau Special Administrative Region to thoroughly implement the important remarks made by Xi, who is also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), about Hong Kong and Macau affairs, to contribute to the development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA), and to help Macau play the role of a bridge between China and the PSCs.
The statement said that the cooperation agreement was signed by the court’s Research Office Director Duan Nonggen and FLL Dean Tong Io Cheng.
Moreover, after the inauguration ceremony, the two sides discussed the centre’s future development, as well as judicial and legal cooperation and exchanges between the mainland and Macau, among others, according to the statement.
A Supreme People’s Court delegation also visited the UM campus and was accompanied by Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon and FLL members, the statement said.
This handout photo taken and provided on Friday by the University of Macau (UM) shows Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China Research Office Director Duan Nonggen (right) and UM’s Faculty of Law (FLL) Dean Tong Io Cheng signing the cooperation agreement earlier that day.
