Xiao Yang, president of China's Supreme People's Court, said here Monday judicial exchange and cooperation between the mainland and Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) is "very important".

He made the remarks when he delivered a speech on the Forum of Judges held by the Law School of Renmin University of China.

He said a new path on the judicial cooperation between the two sides has been opened up and legal issues had been properly handled under the principle of "one country, two systems".

According to the Basic Law of the Macao SAR, Macao can enjoy an independent legislature, judicial and final appeal powers, and possess a different legal system from the mainland.

Macao's legal system is very close to Portugal's, because of its historical linkage to the Portuguese-speaking world even after its' return to the motherland in 1999.

"No matter how the judicial systems differ between the countries and regions, all of them should guarantee justice," said the president.

Sam Hou Fai, president of the Court of Final Appeal in the Macao SAR, also delivered a speech titled "Evolution of Conference of Supreme Court Presidents in Portuguese-speaking Countries and Regions and Judicial System of Macao".

The Forum of Judges, as well as the Forum of Procurators and the Forum of Jurists, are all held by the law school of the famed university, aiming to strengthen relations between the judicial practices and law education.

Working together with the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Justice, the law school invited the best judges, procuratorators and jurists, both at home and abroad, to deliver speeches at the three forums.

Chief justices from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, East Timor, Sao Tome and Principe also attended the one-day forum of Supreme Court presidents.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2003)