The government announced yesterday that it had finished drafting a bill governing the setting-up and operations of the city’s associations, aiming to address operational irregularities – such as the large number of dormant associations – while strengthening government oversight and fostering the high-quality development of associations in the city.
One of the bill’s major proposals is to establish a formal legal mechanism to dissolve dormant associations.
Secretary for Administration and Justice Wong Sio Chak and Identification Services Bureau (DSI) Director Sonia Chan Hoi Fan made the announcement during a press conference at Government Headquarters yesterday. Wong is also the spokesman for the government’s top advisory body – the Executive Council.
The bill will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly (AL) in due course for debate, review, and a vote.
The bill proposes to designate the Identification Services Bureau (DSI) as the sole public entity formally tasked with supervising the city’s associations. The bill also proposes to streamline administrative procedures for the registration of new associations.
Moreover, the government proposes having the power to dissolve any association if its objectives or operations are found to endanger national security.
The establishment and operation of associations are currently regulated by a law (Law 2/99/M) enacted in 1999 – shortly before Macau’s return to the motherland – as well as certain provisions listed in the Macau Civil Code.
The government proposes to establish a new, unified law to replace Law 2/99/M.
During yesterday’s press conference, Wong noted that Law 2/99/M and the respective provisions governing associations listed in the Civil Code had been in force for many years. He said that the provisions had proven to be overly general, undemanding, and scattered, while the establishment and operation of associations had been subject to management by different public entities, making it impossible to ensure effective oversight.
Wong said that all these factors had led to a continuous increase in the number of associations in the city over time, as well as highly irregular operations, hindering the development of associations towards higher standards of quality and professionalism.
Currently, registering a new association involves three separate entities – the Identification Services Bureau, the Notary Office, and the Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ). The registration process is inconvenient for the public and incurs substantial administrative costs, the government has previously pointed out.
The bill, Wong said yesterday, proposes a single, specific public entity formally tasked with handling the registration of new associations and supervising their operations – the Identification Services Bureau.
The government noted earlier this year that there were fewer than 2,000 associations shortly before the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) on December 20, 1999, whereas the number has grown to about 12,400 nowadays.
However, only about 60 percent of these 12,400 community, sport, educational, business, welfare, mutual aid, professional, neighbourhood, cultural, artistic, and other kinds of associations remain active. The remainder have either ceased operations or never began operating after their establishment, the government has pointed out.
DSI Director Sonia Chan Hoi Fan noted during yesterday’s press conference that the government currently does not have a formal mechanism to dissolve associations. The bill, she said, proposes to establish a formal mechanism granting her bureau the power to dissolve associations.
According to the bill, she said, the bureau can decide to dissolve an association in three major circumstances.
First, the bureau can decide to dissolve an association after the MSAR’s Committee for Safeguarding National Security has concluded that its objective or operations will endanger national security.
The second situation concerns branches in Macau set up by associations outside Macau.
If the parent association outside Macau is dissolved, the bureau can correspondingly decide to dissolve the branch in Macau.
The third situation concerns the bureau’s power to request an association to remedy irregularities existing in its operations, with the aim of addressing the issue of dormant associations.
If such an association fails to remedy the irregularities before a specific deadline, the bureau can decide to dissolve it.
Secretary for Administration and Justice Wong Sio Chak (right) and Identification Services Bureau (DSI) Director Sonia Chan Hoi Fan address yesterday’s Executive Council press conference at Government Headquarters. – Photo: Tony Wong
