On The Judicial Experience Of Qing Government 's Response To Macao' S Homicide

From Qing Emperor Kangxi years to the Opium War, in order to more effectively govern Macau, Qing government had to change the previous laissez-faire attitude toward the criminal justice. On the basis of respect for the reality of Macau, Qing government decided to strengthen the judicial sovereignty. During this period, Portuguese is generally submissive. But with the decline of the Qing Empire, Portuguese ambitions of seeking Macau’s judicial sovereignty were constantly increasing. The Portuguese began to use a variety of methods to resist the Qing government’s jurisdiction. And the resistances were becoming increasingly fierce. However, before the Opium War, the main means of confrontation were flexible, such as hiding criminals, private settlement, collusion translators, etc. Therefore, there were a lot of conflicts between the Qing government and the Portuguese around a series of murders and the judicial sovereignty. By increasing emphasis on governance in Macau, increasing the establishment of jurisdictional bodies, improving the legal system, using trade sanctions, and so on, the Qing government successfully maintained the judicial sovereignty. In order to adapt to the actual situation in Macao and better implementation of national laws, the Qing government had to change the law on foreigners which developed in the Ming Dynasty and inherited by Qing Dynasty. While there are some similarities in the form of these laws and the relevant provisions of the Tang Dynasty, their spirits were very different. If Tang was active and inclusive, the Qing was passive and helpless. Because there were many difficulties for local officials to arrest and imprison the murder suspects of the Portuguese nationality, completing the judicial procedures according to the law was not easy. Therefore, the Qing government had to adapt to reality, and give the Portuguese living in Macao certain powers. According to "the Law Enacted in the Ninth Year of Qianlong" and the Agreement on the Judicial Powers of the Portuguese Living in Macao, the Qing government granted certain judicial autonomy to Portuguese. The Qing government did not manage the Portuguese internal legal dispute. And in minor criminal cases, the Portuguese were allowed to punish the criminals of their nationality. However, if the defendant was Chinese, they did not have the power. And if the victim was Chinese in severe criminal cases such as the murder, the Qing government had absolute judicial power. In these cases, the modifications of the law were procedural rather than on the entity. For the purposes of national law to be true, "Life for Life" was often mentioned in the official documents from the Qing government to the Portuguese. But this was not to scare the Portuguese. It was only for the implementation of national laws. Different from the assimilation policies of the minorities in Southwest China, the Qing government was wary of the Portuguese. We can say that the Portuguese was very special in the Qing territory. On the whole, the attempts of the Portuguese to obtain the judicial sovereignty of Macau were all repulsed by Qing government before the Opium War. But through an event in which the Portuguese Governor of Macao was assassinated after the Opium War, the Portuguese stole the judicial power in Macau. The seemingly random action actually was the result of long-simmering. This article is intended to summarize the legal experiences of the Qing government in Macao through the study of the murder cases.