Africa-Press – Angola. One hundred and fifty-eight (158) guarantee judges will take up their duties in Angola, starting on the 2nd of May this year.
The entry into operation of these judges was discussed this Friday, in Luanda, during a meeting between the president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, Joel Leonardo, the Minister of the Interior, Eugénio Laborinho, the Attorney General of the Republic, Hélder Pitta Groz , and the chairman of the Angolan Bar Association (OAA), Luís Monteiro.
According to the spokesman for the Superior Council for the Judiciary, Correia Bartolomeu, the province of Luanda will have 49, 21 for the Comarca de Belas Court and 28 for the municipality of Luanda.
The other provinces will have between two and eight judges, depending on the procedural mobility of each one, explained Correia Bartolomeu.
The spokesperson said that at the moment that number satisfies the needs, but admitted the possibility of appointing, in the future, new guarantees judges to ensure procedural celerity and respect for the rights of the detainees.
He pointed out among the powers of the judge of guarantees that of decreeing preventive or house arrest in the investigation phase of the criminal process, a role formerly exercised by a prosecutor.
On the occasion, the adviser to the Attorney General of the Republic, Africano Gamboa, explained that the Public Ministry will continue to direct the preparatory instruction, but that the coercive measures will need the approval of the guarantee judge who will operate in the preparatory instruction. .
For the deputy attorney general of the Republic, the functions of each of the institutions are well delimited in terms of principles, so there is no fear of possible conflicts.
The director of the National Office of Legal Advice of the National Police, Gonçalves Moco, stated that his institution’s role in combating crime will be maintained.
During the meeting, the president of the Superior Council for the Judiciary, Joel Leonardo, considered it essential that the courts, the PGR and the National Police continue to interconnect and cooperate to ensure the success of justice in the country.
According to article 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it is incumbent upon the guarantees judge, among others, to apply coercive measures and assess complaints arising from acts of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, may carry out the first judicial interrogation of the detained defendant, order searches in establishments and the seizure of procedurally relevant objects found in searches.
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