Organization wants more mediators after appointing 2 Macau lawyers

A International Organization for Mediation (IOMed) wants more Lusophone mediators after assigning the first – two Macau lawyers – and in 2027 will visit Brazil, Lusa said.

IOMed was established in May 2025 as the first multilateral mediating body, with a status “equivalent to that of the International Court of Justice” in The Hague, then announced, at the event of its presentation, the head of the Hong Kong Government, John Lee Ka-chiu.

In an interview with Lusa, Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah highlighted that China has already appointed two Macau mediators, both “lawyer who speak Portuguese, and one of them is also registered in the Portuguese Bar Association.”.

This is the case of Macaense Paulino do Lago Comandante, president of the Tax Council of the Macau Lawyers Association (AAM). Macau’s other mediator is Oriana Inacio Pun, secretary-general of AAM.

The Macarians are a Euro-Asian community, composed mainly of Lusodescendants, with roots in the territory.

Macau mediators manage “to a large extent cases related to Portuguese law, the Portuguese language and, what is very important, with Portuguese culture,” Teresa Cheng explained.

In 2024, the president of AAM, Vong Hin Fai, said that, of the 450 registered in that institution, equivalent to the Bar Association in Portugal, 40% came from Portuguese-speaking countries and 80% dominated the Portuguese language.

“ We would very much like to count on more Portuguese language mediators to be assigned to compose the panels,” said Cheng, Hong Kong Executive’s former Justice Secretary (2018-2022).

However, Teresa Cheng stressed, for this to happen, the five Portuguese-speaking countries (Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and East Timor) who were among the 47 founders of the IOMed, must first ratify the convention of the organization, something that only Equatorial Guinea has already done.

“ I believe that the Portuguese-speaking community will quickly realize the benefits of mediation. Therefore, I think it is important that you join our great family”, said the lawyer.

“Brazil, for example, is a country we would like to visit. I have plans to go to Latin America next year,” Cheng said. “I hope we can get more Lusophone countries to join us,” he added.

“ When we move forward in this direction, I will certainly seek the support of our colleagues from Macau, whether they are from the legal sector, from the mediation area or even from our own mediators,” said the leader of IOMed.

Cheng stressed that “Brazil actually has a very strong mediation culture” and recalled that the bilateral investment agreements signed by the country do not foresee arbitration, but rather “mediation, even under a different nomenclature”.

“ Therefore, I believe that Brazil is a particularly relevant partner to dialogue, to share our vision and, no doubt, they will also share their experience ", said the lawyer.