Macau Research Group

Political screening in Macau Legislative Assembly elections

In late 2016[1], the Macau government introduced an amendment to the Legislative Assembly Electoral Law[2] which authorised the Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL) to disqualify candidates who do not “uphold the Basic Law and…

More than half of members of the Macau Legislative Assembly not directly elected

The general public can only vote in a fashion enshrined in 25(b) of the Covenant for less than half of the seats of the Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Assembly consists of 14 directly…

Political censorship of the manifestos of Macau election candidates

In the 2013 Legislative Election, the Electoral Affairs Commission (CAEAL) censored the election manifestos of candidates.[1] In the booklets of candidates’ manifesto to be distributed to the voters by the…

Macau Chief Executive not elected by universal and equal election

The Chief Executive remains undemocratically selected. The incumbent Chief Executive did not reject the possibility of implementing “universal suffrage” but declined to take the initiative.[1] There was only one…

Macau municipal council members not selected by direct election

In 2018, in the re-establishment of a municipal organ, the Macau government refused to reinstate direct elections. Article 95 of Basic Law of Macau provides for the creation of a municipal organ “without political…

Suspension of Legislative Assembly member’s mandate and power in Macau

In 2017, directly elected member of Legislative Assembly (AL) and opposition politician Sou Ka Hou faced a criminal charge for taking part in an unlawful assembly. Articles 15 of Statute of Deputies to the…

Migrant workers’ vulnerability to exploitation in Macau

Despite the legal prohibition of recruitment agencies taking a share of the salaries of migrant workers for commission fees, in reality, wages of domestic workers, who are predominantly migrant workers, are deducted by the employers…

Discrimination against LGBT+ people in Macau

Gender mark change for transgender people

In 2015, the Macau government announced that the Legal Reform Consultation Committee was to commence a study about allowing transgender persons to change the…

Macau Domestic violence law — discrimination against same-sex intimate partners

The Macau government initially proposed the inclusion of “same-sex co-habitants” in the scope of the domestic violence law in 2011. However, the Macau government decided to drop the reference…