Macau's Small Claims Court: MOP 100,000, a 15-Day Answer and No Appeal

What can Macau's small claims court hear?

Two kinds of claim, and nothing else. Article 1285 of the Civil Procedure Code (《民事訴訟法典》) reserves this special procedure for actions whose value does not exceed the appeal threshold of the first-instance courts, brought either to have someone ordered to pay a sum of money owed under an obligation, or to enforce rights the law gives consumers. A friend's unpaid loan, rent arrears, building management fees, a phone bill, a repair that was paid for and never done: all fit. A claim to evict a tenant, to divide property or to recover something other than money does not.

The value is the whole debt. Article 1285(2) says the amount is the total of the legal relationship behind the claim, and that splitting it into parts to squeeze under the ceiling is disregarded. You may claim less than you are owed; you may not file three claims for one debt.

The ceiling itself is set elsewhere. Article 18 of the Judicial Organisation Framework Law (Law 9/1999), as amended by Law 4/2019, fixes the first-instance appeal threshold in civil matters at MOP 100,000. The amending law was published in the Official Gazette on 4 March 2019 and took effect 30 days later. The court's filing guide repeats the rule: the value may not exceed MOP 100,000, measured at the time you file.

Do you need a lawyer, and what does it cost?

No lawyer is required. Article 74 of the Civil Procedure Code makes a lawyer compulsory in cases that admit an ordinary appeal, and a claim at or below MOP 100,000 does not; article 76 then lets a party in such a case conduct it personally. The Courts' page for the Court of First Instance puts the practical result plainly: you need not engage a lawyer or pay an advance payment, only complete the form and file it.

No deposit is not the same as no cost. The court's Form MA-1 carries a note that the minimum court costs are currently roughly MOP 1,300 to MOP 2,000, and that they are reduced if the case is settled or withdrawn before the hearing date. Costs are assessed at the end: the summons warns the defendant that if they do not take part, the court may order them to satisfy the claim and pay the court costs.

A party who wants a lawyer may still use one. The form's prayer even asks for the defendant to pay court costs and professional representation fees. Whether those fees are recoverable in full is for the judge; do not assume they will be.

How do you fill in Form MA-1?

Form MA-1 (起訴狀, edition of April 2019) is on the Courts' download page under 輕微民事案件法庭. Its guide says the form is optional: article 1286 lets you write your own statement of claim, which need not be in numbered paragraphs. The form simply makes sure you include the five things the article requires.

What happens after you file?

The timetable is short and written into the Code. The registry serves the defendant without waiting for a judge's order, trying registered post and personal service at the same time (article 177-A). If service has still not succeeded 20 days after the claim was received, the file goes to the judge, who orders service by public notice; for this procedure the notice is published once in a newspaper (article 1287(2)).

What happens at the hearing?

The judge runs it, and it follows article 1294 in a fixed order. First, the judge attempts to conciliate the parties. Only if that fails does the judge order the evidence to be taken.

The judge questions the witnesses, on everything the judge thinks matters, and is not limited to the evidence the parties brought: the judge may order any other evidence considered necessary. After each witness, either party may ask the judge to put additional questions. When the evidence is finished, each side may make a brief oral statement.

Judgment is normally immediate. Article 1295 says it is dictated into the record at once, unless the judge considers the case complex, in which case a written judgment follows within ten days.

Can the losing side appeal?

In principle, no. Article 583(1) of the Code allows an ordinary appeal only where the value of the case exceeds the appeal threshold of the court that decided it, and a small claim by definition does not. The Legal Affairs Bureau's 2020 explainer says the same: decisions of this court in principle cannot be appealed.

The exceptions in article 583(2) are narrow and legal, not factual: an appeal on the rules of jurisdiction, on a clash with a decision that is already final, or where the decision goes against mandatory case law. If either side thinks one applies, that is the point to get legal advice, because a lawyer is compulsory for any appeal (article 74(1)(b)).

A counterclaim cannot be used to open the door. Article 1285(3) says an increase in value caused by a counterclaim is ignored when deciding whether the judgment can be appealed.

They still have not paid: Form MB-1

A judgment orders payment; it does not move money. Article 1296 sends enforcement of a small-claims judgment down the summary enforcement route, and the court publishes a form for it, MB-1 (執行請求, edition of July 2014), filed in the same case at the same court.

The form does something a creditor cannot do alone. It asks the judge to obtain information about the debtor from the Property Registry, the Commercial and Movable Property Registry, the Social Security Fund, the Financial Services Bureau, the Identification Services Bureau and the Monetary Authority, and then to seize what is found. The listed targets are the government's annual cash-sharing payment, one third of salary, bank accounts, vehicles, registered property, insurance funds and promissory purchase contracts.

The debtor is told only after the seizure (article 820) and then has ten days to oppose the enforcement or the seizure. The MB-1 form gives the minimum court costs for this stage as roughly MOP 1,500; that figure dates from the form's 2014 edition, so confirm it at the registry.

Macau and Hong Kong small claims, side by side

Readers who know Hong Kong's Small Claims Tribunal will find the Macau court faster and more judge-led, with a higher ceiling and no filing fee paid up front, but with almost no route to appeal.

• Choose the court where the debtor and the assets are. A Macau judgment is enforced in Macau; taking a judgment across the border is a separate and slower process.
• Check the value first. Principal plus interest to the date of filing must fit under MOP 100,000.
• Number the documents before you go. The judge will work from them.