The Government would submit to the Legislative Assembly before the end of this month a bill regarding regional judicial cooperation, said the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Chan Hoi Fan.

Ms Chan was speaking to reporters on 8 December. She said the Government would in the coming year sign an agreement with the mainland regarding mutual legal cooperation. Similar cooperation is also proposed between Macao and Hong Kong and was in the final stages of preparation, she added.

Ms Wong said there were significant differences between the respective legal systems in the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao. She stressed that bilateral legal cooperation had to adhere to the principle of “one country” while also taking into consideration Macao’s own legislation.

In other comments relating to legal issues, the Secretary said the Government would seek to recover Macao land concessions in cases where the concessionaire had failed to conduct development according to the agreed terms. The principle of the Land Law is to speed utilisation of land and enhance transparency in the way land concessions are issued, she added.

The Government had announced previously that a land concession for Pearl Horizon, an unbuilt residential project, would revert to the Government when the concession expires on 25 December 2015.