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Sam Hou Fai

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Sam Hou Fai
岑浩輝
President of the Court of Final Appeal of Macau
In office
20 December 1999 – 28 August 2024
Appointed byEdmund Ho
Personal details
Born
Cen Haohui

May 1962 (1962-05) (age 62)
Zhongshan, Guangdong, China
CitizenshipChinese
Children2
ResidenceMacau
Alma materPeking University, University of Coimbra
OccupationJudge
Sam Hou Fai
Traditional Chinese岑浩輝
Simplified Chinese岑浩辉
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinCén Hàohuī
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingsam4 hou6 fai1

Sam Hou Fai (Chinese: 岑浩輝) is a Macau judge who served as the 1st President of the Court of Final Appeal of Macau, the highest court in Macau, China.[1][2][3]

Early life

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Sam was born in May 1962 in China and raised in Zhongshan. After entering university in 1978 he entered law school in 1981 and earned his bachelor's degree in law from Peking University in Mainland China. After practicing law in China he moved to Macau in 1986, studied at the University of Coimbra and joined the Public Prosecutions Office of Macau in 1995.

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In 1997, Sam became a judge at the Court of First Instance and was later elected as member of the Council of Justice.[2]

On 20 December 1999, he was appointed by the Chief Executive as the President of the Court of Final Appeal. He also holds the positions of President of the Council of the Judicial Magistrates, Member of the Independent Commission on the Recommendation of Judges, Member of the Working Committee on Regional Legal Assistance and International Mutual Legal Assistance and Honorable Chairman of the Macao Basic Law Promotional Association.[4] During his tenure he served as the presiding judge for Ao Man Long's corruption case.

Political career

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On 26 August 2024, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng announced Sam's resignation as President of the Court of Final Appeal and intended to run in the 2024 Chief Executive election.[3] He officially announced his intention to run on 28 August 2024.[5]

Sam secured 386 out of 400 nominations from the Electoral Committee before deadline on 12 September, accounting for 96.5% of its members, making him the sole candidate of the chief executive election.[6][7] He will become the first chief executive of Macau to be born in Mainland China and without business background if he is elected.

References

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  1. ^ "Background Note: Macau". US Department of State. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Macau News - People 人物 - Sam Hou Fai". www.macaunews.com.mo. Archived from the original on 2015-10-06.
  3. ^ a b Jeffie, Lam (26 August 2024). "Sam Hou-fai quits Macau's top court ahead of bid to become city's next leader". SCMP. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  4. ^ "Sam Hou Fai". Macao SAR Government Portal. 28 August 2019. Archived from the original on 26 August 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Macau judge announces bid to lead world's biggest casino hub". Reuters. 27 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Sam Hou-fai becomes sole candidate for Macau's top job with 383 nominations". South China Morning Post. 10 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Sam submits 3 more nominations, now 96.5 pct of CE electors backing him". Macau Post Daily. 13 September 2024.
Preceded by
new position
President of the Court of Final Appeal of Macau
1999-2024
Succeeded by
TBD
Preceded by
new position
President of the Conselho dos Magistrados Judiciais
1999-2024
Succeeded by
TBD