Rui Ribeiro, a judge at the Court of Second Instance, confirmed to Lusa on the sidelines of a public event that he will leave Macau at the end of October, bringing forward the end of his commission, which had been due to conclude in May 2026. He stressed that Macau’s judicial authorities “did everything” to persuade him to stay, but said he preferred to return to Portugal due to uncertainty over a possible renewal of his special licence by Portugal’s High Council for the Judiciary (CSM).
With Rui Ribeiro’s departure announced, only one judge from Portugal remains in Macau’s courts: Jerónimo Alberto Gonçalves Santos, presiding judge of a collegiate panel at the Court of First Instance (TJB).
STJ president João Cura Mariano, who by virtue of his office also chairs the CSM, told reporters during a visit to Macau that he intends to ascertain whether the territory is interested in having Portuguese magistrates. “We will try to see what they can still usefully contribute and whether they are needed, because if they are needed, new judges will come,” he assured journalists.
João Cura Mariano said this “is certainly a matter to be discussed” in meetings on Sunday with the president of the Court of Final Appeal (TUI), Song Man Lei, and with Sam Hou Fai, the Chief Executive of Macau and former president of the TUI. “I think it is very useful because, being a former court president, [Sam Hou Fai] will be aware of the needs that exist,” the Portuguese justice added.
However, the STJ president underlined that the Portuguese judiciary is facing “some difficulty in contributing judges,” due to a shortage of qualified and experienced personnel. “Only recently we brought back a judge who had been here for many years and we needed him,” João Cura Mariano recalled.
In 2024, the CSM rejected the continued stay of Portuguese judge Carlos Carvalho of the TJB, who had been in Macau for 16 years and had been invited by the territory’s Independent Commission for the Nomination of Judges to remain for a further two years. The council did not authorise the renewal of Carvalho’s special licence and promoted him to appellate judge (desembargador), assigning him to the Court of Appeal.
Even so, João Cura Mariano said he remains willing to help, “despite the current difficulties in Portugal in recruiting judges.” He highlighted the example of Timor‑Leste, where “many Portuguese judges are currently collaborating in the Timorese judicial system,” because “they are very necessary.”
Platform with Lusa
