Casinos in Macau: Cross-border Crime and Regional Assistance

杨 诚* 
（Vincent Yang, Ph.D., Professor, Pro-Rector of University of Saint Joseph, Macau ）

 
                                                                        
       Abstract: Casinos in Macau are in trouble because of the crackdowns on corruption in mainland China. Although gaming is the most important industry in Macau, it is widely believed that casinos attract problem gamblers and criminals from mainland China. After the change of the SAR government in December 2014, Macau and the mainland are again trying to develop a mutual legal assistance treaty to fight cross-border crimes. This paper holds that an MLAT will help Macau to improve the sustainability of its gaming industry and fulfill its obligation to support the ongoing initiatives of the Central Government to crackdown on corruption and “comprehensively implement the rule of law”. It is unfortunate that after 15 years of Macau’s return it still does not have a legal framework to formalize mutual legal assistance in criminal matters with the mainland. In practice, the problems of cross-border crimes are no longer limited to property offences, violent offences and smuggling. There is a need to address the more complicated issues of cross-border corruption, organized crime and money laundering. A regional MLAT will reduce the difficulties in cross-border criminal investigation, sharing of criminal intelligence, search and seizure of evidence, freezing and return of proceeds of crime, and the apprehension and transfer of criminal suspects. To develop a treaty, Macau should follow the principles in the United Nations Convention against Corruption to maximize the means of cooperation. If different sovereign states can develop such cooperation under the UNCAA, Macau as a Special Administration Region of China should have no technical difficulty to enter into an effective relationship of comprehensive cooperation with the mainland. The MSAR can borrow the model of the 2009 treaty between Taiwan and the mainland and amend its MLAT Law to make it applicable to regional cooperation within China.

文章来源：《第一届法治社会•长江论坛》论文集（2015年） 

*作者简介：杨诚博士，澳门圣若瑟大学助理校长、讲座教授