The Macau Government will submit to the Legislative Assembly the new legal regime of associations, which provides for a single supervisory body to prevent risks to the defense of the State.
© Lusa
12/11/2026
by
Lusa
O Macau government will submit “as soon as possible” to the parliamentary discussion and approval of the new legal regime of the associations, which creates a single body to monitor them, preventing “risks to the defense of the State”.
Wong Sio Chak, Secretary for Administration and Justice, today at a press conference stressed that the prevention of risks to national security “is indeed an important aspect of current legislation”, which “contains clear standards, consistent with the relevant provisions established earlier this year by the National Defense and Security Commission (CDSE)”.
As soon as “disputed and approved” by the executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (RAEM), the bill will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly (LA), “as soon as possible”, “without waiting until next year”, he said.
The article collected during the public consultation period, whose report was released this Wednesday, suggestions that will result “in some adjustments”, but “most of the questions consulted received public support, with a general approval rate higher than 80%”, and “the establishment of a unified regulatory body obtained more than 90% of the support” of the 5,075 of the opinions received, said Sónia Chan, Director of Identification Services, also present at the press conference.
The article aims to replace the legal regime in force and “unify” and “optimize” the management standards of the sector, encouraging the “patriotic and loving associations for Macau” to “do their role better and consolidate the foundations of social governance” according to the text of the bill.
According to the document, among the 12,400 associations in Macao – the number was less than two thousand before the transition from the Portuguese administration to China in December 1999 – “only about 60% maintain a certain level of operation, while approximately 40% are inactive”.
According to the authorities, the current regime does not provide for mechanisms to prevent the establishment of associations that may call into question “state protection, public order or the rights and freedoms of third parties”, and the lack of transparency may even allow “associations to be used for money laundering or terrorist financing”.
The two central changes to the new regime are the centralisation of all administrative competences in the Directorate of Identification Services (DSI), which starts to act as regulatory entity throughout the life cycle of the associations, and the irrevocable extinction by the CDSE of associations that are considered to endanger the security of the State.
The law governing the CDSE, approved in February, assigns to the institution led by the Chief Executive, a central and broad role in all matters related to national defense and security.
The proposal also provides that the ISD may refuse to set up associations on the basis of “national security requirements” and may request advice from other public or private authorities and bodies and request the CDSE to assess the association concerned.
The centralization of the new system in the DSI eliminates the current bureaucratic circuit for the constitution of an association, which until now required the passage by notarial notaries to grant public deed, the Directorate of Justice Affairs (DSAJ) and the verification of legality by the prosecutor.
To solve the problem of so-called “ghost associations”, the local government says it wants to establish a rectification mechanism that authorizes the ISD to administratively dissolve the unsuitable structures.
Entities that do not hold elections to social bodies, do not report or fail to settle anomalies within the time limit set — one year for new associations and 180 days for existing ones — will be dissolved.
In the field of foreign organisations, the opening of branches in Macao is limited to a single representation and requires at least three years of legal activity in the jurisdiction of origin. Associations where more than half of the leaders or members are non-residents are also required to provide annual information to the ISD.
On the other hand, among existing organisations, if identified by DSI as subsidiaries of foreign organisations, “they are treated in the same way as organisations identified as non-local and must provide basic information about all their members,” said Sonia Chan today.
These changes are described in the article as part of efforts to control and limit the influence of foreign capital and structures in the Macau associative sector, imposing requirements for stability, transparency and mandatory reporting to avoid risks of security and illegal financing.
They can only open a branch in Macao non-profit and non-political foreign associations, legally established in the country of origin, with at least three years of proven activity.
DSI may also refuse to form associations if there is evidence that financing or external links may call into question “the defence of the State, public order or the rights and freedoms of third parties”.
With regard to political associations, the document provides for the maintenance of the transitional regime for the “only entity” of this kind created before the transfer of sovereignty in 1999, with no provision being made for the creation of new rules for future political associations, as it is considered that “the electoral legislation in force in Macao fully guarantees the exercise of the political rights of residents”.