Judge Joana Kan
Kan Cheng Ha, born in Macau in the month of May 1973, completed "Portuguese Language and Culture Course" at the Faculty of Literature in Lisbon, Portugal in 1993, returned to Macau in the same year.
Graduated with “Bachelor of Law in Portuguese Language" at University of Macau in September 1998, and completed in March 2000 the training course organized held by (Macao) Legal and Judicial Training Center for entering into post of Registrar and Public Notary of Government Registry Offices. Finished in July 2004 the professional training course held by (Macao) Legal and Judicial Training Center designed for entering the post of Magistrates Judiciary in Courts and Public Prosecutions Office. Following this, completed “Master Course of Law” at the Faculty of Law of University of Science and Technology of Macau in 2008 and also completed “Master Course of Law in Portuguese Language” at the Faculty of Law of University of Macau in 2009. At present, studying “Doctoral Course on Civil and Commercial Law” at China University of Political Science and Law, in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Kan Cheng Ha returned from Portugal to Macao in the year 1993, entered public service at SAFP (Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau) and after that worked as legal expert at DSAJ (Legal Affairs Bureau), also after that, took the post of Registrar of Real Estate Registry, from September 2000 to March 2002. In September 2004, perform the functions of a judge at the Base Court of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, initially performed the functions of Judge at Criminal Court, later transferred to work in Civil Court in starting mid-September 2009. In mid-October 2013, when the Base Court established the specialised Family and Juvenile Court, transferred to work there till now. With approval from Judicial Council, starting from 2011 up till now, Kan Cheng Ha worked as Arbitration Judge at Consumer Arbitration Centre of Macau, by accumulating functions. ABSTRACT CUSTODY OF MINOR CHILDREN IN A DIVORCE, SEPARATION AND ANNULMENT OF MARRIAGES In accordance with statistics of Government of Macau 2014, among 3700 pairs of couples get married, 1200 pairs get divorce. The industrial structure in Macau today mainly falls on the service industry; many couples have to work on shifts, this results in their lack of mutual communication and getting together. In addition, there are more temptation against their bond in marriage, the number of families with both parents working in increasing in the community, the percentage of female participation at work is getting higher than before in the past, their financial status and capability awakes their own awareness on independence, therefore, women become more prone to or accept divorce when there is dissatisfaction or problem in their marriage. After the divorce, problems appear in the rearrangement of children's wants and needs. The issue on children is always a concern globally. Nobody will deny they are our future. So, children's healthy growth (both mental and physical) are always important and raise a lot of attention around the world. As we know, although Macau S.A.R. Legal System (Civil Law or Continental System) is deferent from Common Law, also Hong Kong S.A.R. Legal System, but, on the matter of children, especially in Custody of Minor Children in a divorce, separation and annulment of marriages, the principles are similar - the best interests of children –. In the cases of minor children, “The best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration in matters relating to children”. That means, the best interests of the child works as a guiding principle when the judicial decisions are made. These principles are also regulated in Macau´s Family Law and be reflected in the judicial decisions. The scope of this presentation is to establish a brief overview of Custody of Minor Children in a divorce, separation and annulment of marriages, under the legal framework of Macau. Also, we like to learn from the Act of Children 1989 and observe its impact to the Macau Family Law. Keywords: divorce, minor children, custody, parental responsibility, parental authority. |