Law of the People's Republic of China on Garrisoning the Macao Special Administrative Region

Article 1

This Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region to ensure the lawful performance of functions and responsibilities by the military forces stationed by the Central People's Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region for defence, and to maintain the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the State and the security of Macao.

Article 2

The military forces stationed by the Central People's Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region for defence shall be designated as the Macao Garrison of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (hereinafter referred to as the Macao Garrison).

The Macao Garrison shall be subject to the direction of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China. Its composition and number of members shall be determined according to the need for the defence of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

The Macao Garrison shall practise a system of rotation of its members.

Article 3

The Macao Garrison shall not interfere in the local affairs of the Macao Special Administrative Region. The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region may, when necessary, ask the Central People's Government for assistance from the Macao Garrison in the maintenance of public order or in disaster relief.

Article 4

In addition to abiding by national laws, members of the Macao Garrison shall abide by the laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Article 5

Expenditures for the Macao Garrison shall be borne by the Central People's Government.

Article 6

The Macao Garrison shall perform the following defence functions and responsibilities:

(1) preparing against and resisting aggression, and safeguarding the security of the Macao Special Administrative Region;

(2) carrying out defence duties;

(3) administering military facilities; and

(4) handling foreign-related military affairs.

Article 7

In the event that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress decides to declare a state of war or, by reason of turmoil within the Macao Special Administrative Region which endangers national unity or security and is beyond the control of the Government of the Region, decides that the Region is in a state of emergency, the Macao Garrison shall perform its duties in accordance with the provisions of the national laws that the Central People's Government decides to apply in the Region.

Article 8

No weapon and equipment, such as aircraft and vessels, and no material of the Macao Garrison, and no member or vehicle of the Garrison that bears a certificate or a document of certification issued by the Macao Garrison showing that the bearer is on official duty, shall be examined, searched, seized or detained by any law-enforcing officer of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

The Macao Garrison and its members shall also enjoy other rights and immunities prescribed by the laws in force in the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Article 9

Members of the Macao Garrison may, in accordance with the provisions of the laws in force in the Macao Special Administrative Region, take measures to stop any act which obstructs their performance of official duties.

Article 10

The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region shall support the Macao Garrison in its performance of defence functions and responsibilities and guarantee the lawful rights and interests of the Macao Garrison and its members.

The Macao Special Administrative Region shall guarantee by law the rights and immunities the Macao Garrison and its members are entitled to enjoy when performing their functions and responsibilities.

The Macao Special Administrative Region shall consult the Macao Garrison when formulating any policy or drafting any law or administrative regulation which concerns the Macao Garrison.

Article 11

The Macao Garrison shall notify in advance the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region of any military activities it is to conduct such as training exercises and maneuvers which may affect the public interests of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Article 12

The Macao Garrison and the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region shall jointly protect the military facilities within the Macao Special Administrative Region.

The Macao Garrison shall delimit military restricted zones in conjunction with the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region. The locations and boundaries of the military restricted zones shall be declared by the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region shall assist the Macao Garrison in maintaining the security of the military restricted zones, and shall prohibit any organization or individual from damaging or endangering any military facilities. Without permission from the Commander of the Macao Garrison or other officers as he may authorize to give such permission, no person, vehicle, vessel or aircraft other than those of the Macao Garrison may enter the military restricted zones. Guards of the military restricted zones shall have the right to stop according to law any unauthorized entry into any military restricted zone or any act which damages or endangers any military facilities.

The Macao Garrison shall protect the natural resources, historical relics and monuments, and other non-military rights and interests within the military restricted zones in accordance with the laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Article 13

Land to be used by the Macao Garrison for military purposes shall be provided free of compensation by the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Any land used by the Macao Garrison for military purposes, when approved by the Central People's Government to be no longer needed for defence purposes, shall be turned over without compensation to the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

If the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region needs for public use any part of the land used for military purposes by the Macao Garrison, it shall seek approval of the Central People's Government; where approval is obtained, the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region shall make reprovision of land and military facilities for the Macao Garrison at such sites as agreed to by the Central People's Government, and shall bear all the expenses and costs entailed.

Article 14

Where the Macao Special Administrative Region asks the Central People's Government for assistance from the Macao Garrison in the maintenance of public order or in disaster relief and such request is approved by the Central People's Government, the Macao Garrison shall call out troops in accordance with the order of the Central Military Commission to carry out tasks of assistance in the maintenance of public order or in disaster relief, and upon completion of the tasks, the troops shall return to their barracks immediately.

The troops of the Macao Garrison who are called out to assist in the maintenance of public order or in disaster relief shall, under the arrangement of the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region, be commanded by the Commander of the Macao Garrison or the officer authorized by him.

Members of the Macao Garrison may, in the course of rendering assistance in the maintenance of public order or in disaster relief, exercise such powers as are corresponding to the tasks they are performing and as are prescribed in the law of the Macao Special Administrative Region for law-enforcing officers who are performing tasks related to maintenance of public order or to disaster relief.

Article 15

The Macao Garrison and the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region shall establish necessary liaison to deal with matters concerning the Macao Garrison through consultation.

Article 16

Members of the Macao Garrison shall fulfill the following obligations:

(1) to be loyal to their motherland, perform their functions and responsibilities, maintain the security, honor and interests of their motherland, and safeguard the security of Macao;

(2) to abide by national laws and the laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region, and observe military discipline;

(3) to respect the organs of political power, the social system and the ways of life of the Macao Special Administrative Region;

(4) to cherish the public property of the Macao Special Administrative Region and the private property of Macao residents and other persons; and

(5) to observe public ethics and cultivate civility and courtesy.

Article 17

Members of the Macao Garrison shall not join any political, religious or social organization in Macao.

Article 18

The Macao Garrison or its members shall not engage in any form of profit-making business activities. Members of the Macao Garrison shall not engage in any other activity incompatible with their functions and responsibilities as servicemen.

Article 19

Any member of the Macao Garrison who contravenes any national law or law of the Macao Special Administrative Region shall be investigated for legal responsibility according to law.

Any member of the Macao Garrison who breaches military discipline shall be subject to disciplinary sanction.

Article 20

Criminal offences committed by members of the Macao Garrison shall be under the jurisdiction of the military judicial organs; but offences which are committed by members of the Macao Garrison when not performing their official duties and in such violation of the personal right or property right of Macao residents or other persons who are not of the Macao Garrison or otherwise in such contravention of the laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region as to constitute crimes, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the judicial organs of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

The military judicial organs and the judicial organs of the Macao Special Administrative Region may transfer to the other party the criminal cases of members of the Macao Garrison under their respective jurisdiction if they consider it to be more appropriate for the other party to exercise jurisdiction, provided that consensus is reached through mutual consultation.

Macao residents or other persons not of the Macao Garrison involved as defendants in the criminal cases of members of the Macao Garrison under the jurisdiction of the military judicial organs shall be tried by the courts of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Article 21

Any person who is lawfully arrested as a suspected offender by law-enforcing officers of the Macao Special Administrative Region, once confirmed upon investigation to be a member of the Macao Garrison, shall be handed over to the Macao Garrison for custody. Jurisdiction over the case involving the person in custody shall be determined in accordance with the provisions in Article 20 of this Law.

Article 22

Any member of the Macao Garrison sentenced by a court of the Macao Special Administrative Region to criminal punishment or security measure which deprives him of or restricts his personal freedom shall be delivered for sentence enforcement according to the provisions of the laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region, except for the case in which the place of sentence enforcement is otherwise determined by a relevant law-enforcing organ of the Macao Special Administrative Region and the military judicial organ of the Macao Garrison through consultation.

Article 23

Where any member of the Macao Garrison, in contravention of the laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region, infringes the civil rights of any Macao residents or other persons not of the Macao Garrison, the parties concerned may seek settlement through consultation or mediation; if they are unwilling or fail to reach settlement through consultation or mediation, the infringed party may bring an action in the court. Cases of tort arising from acts committed by members of the Macao Garrison when not performing their official duties shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of the Macao Special Administrative Region; cases of tort arising from acts committed by members of the Macao Garrison when performing their official duties shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China, and compensation for any loss or injury incurred by acts of tort shall be governed by the laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Article 24

Where any contractual dispute arises within the Macao Special Administrative Region between any organ or unit of the Macao Garrison and any Macao resident or other person not of the Macao Garrison, the parties concerned may settle their dispute through consultation or mediation; if the parties are unwilling or fail to reach settlement through consultation or mediation, they may submit the dispute to the arbitration agency for arbitration in accordance with the arbitration clause contained in the contract or with a written arbitration agreement reached by the parties afterwards. If no arbitration clause is contained in the contract and no written arbitration agreement is reached afterwards, the parties may institute proceedings in a court of the Macao Special Administrative Region, except that the parties agree otherwise as to the court for instituting proceedings.

Article 25

Certificates issued by the Macao Garrison regarding facts such as identity of membership of the Macao Garrison and acts in performance of official duties shall be valid evidence in proceedings of the courts of the Macao Special Administrative Region, unless the contrary is proved.

Article 26

Acts of State of the Macao Garrison such as defence affairs shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Article 27

Organs or units of the Macao Garrison shall comply with the judgements or orders issued by the courts of the Macao Special Administrative Region concerning arrangement of their property; but the said courts shall not enforce judgements or orders on any weapon, equipment, material or other property of the Macao Garrison.

Article 28

The military judicial organs may, through consultation, maintain juridical relations with the judicial organs and the relevant law-enforcing organs of the Macao Special Administrative Region, and they may render assistance to each other.

Article 29

The power of interpretation of this Law shall be vested in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Article 30

This Law shall go into effect as of December 20, 1999.