Africa-Press – Angola. The National Assembly (AN) unanimously approved this Thursday the changes to the Angolan Penal Code, which removed inaccuracies and insufficiencies in thirty of its articles.
The diploma was approved with 160 votes in favor, none against and without abstentions, during the 5th Ordinary Plenary Meeting of the 2nd Legislative Session of the V Legislature.
Parliamentarians understand that the Penal Code is now better organized to safeguard and protect the rights, freedoms and fundamental guarantees of citizens.
The Executive’s legislative initiative is part of the process of reviewing the sector’s legislation and carried out an exercise to correct and overcome inaccuracies, errors and insufficiencies recorded when the current Law was published.
With this change, the aim is to ensure the satisfactory implementation and application of criminal justice, as well as compliance and adequacy to the panorama of penalties for certain illicit acts in view of the concept of “crimes underlying money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons mass” to which the country was subjected internationally.
The amendment to the Angolan Penal Code constitutes, in short, a fundamental step in materializing the commitment to establish criminal justice that covers large, medium and small crimes.
Specifically, specific changes were introduced to 30 articles of the current Law, approved in November 2020.
For example, the proposed change in article 75 of the Penal Code appears to ensure correspondence between the maximum limit of the reference prison sentence of the norm (6 months in prison) compared to the maximum limit of the alternative penalty of fine, wrongly established at 120 days, which should now be 60 days.
Likewise, a specific correction was made to the penal framework provided for in paragraph b) of paragraph 1 of article 194, (Sexual abuse of a dependent minor), which was referred to as “3 months to 12 years (in prison)”, when in fact it should say “3 to 12 years (in prison)”.
According to the reasoning, admitting a minimum limit of 3 months of imprisonment in subparagraph b) of no. of article 193 has this limit set at 1 year, thus generating inconsistency. Hence the meaning of the change in the proposal.
Declarations of Vote
Representative JoseĢ Semedo, from the MPLA Parliamentary group, said that they voted in favor of the Bill in question, because the proposed changes are fundamental, from a political and social point of view, which reflects the firm determination of the Republic of Angola in combating crime and protecting the integrity of its financial system, aiming for security and economic and social stability at an internal and international level.
“With this conscious and responsible vote, we send a very clear message to the world: Angola is seriously and definitively committed to protecting the integrity and credibility of its legal-criminal and financial system, aligned with international standards and norms in this matter.”
For his part, deputy Augusto Manuel, from the UNITA parliamentary group, highlighted the adjustments introduced to the Angolan Penal Code, “which will better serve the interests of citizens who are, after all, the recipients of criminal policy in the country”.
“The UNITA parliamentary group understands that, with the approval of the proposed changes, our Penal administration system will be adjusted to the international dictates to which Angola is bound”, expressed the deputy.
Representative Florbela Malaquias, from PHA, highlighted the fact that the changes to the proposal have given relevance to the crimes of rape of minors.
For you, rape is a crime that causes irreparable damage to minors’ physical, emotional and psychological development.
In effect, he argues that Angolan legislation must reflect the seriousness of these crises, in order to recognize the intense suffering of the victims and ensure that those responsible are severely punished.
International Judicial Cooperation
The Plenary of the Assembly also unanimously approved the Proposal to amend the Law on International Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters.
The Proposal aims to reinforce the compliance and effectiveness of the national system for preventing and combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, by adjusting the legal framework in reference to internal or international Judicial cooperation in matters criminal.
The Law provides for the establishment of optimized mechanisms that are increasingly aligned with accepted international good practices, enhancing the improvement of prevention and repression of reference crimes.
The document establishes that “International Judicial cooperation cannot be refused based on the obligation of secrecy or internal confidentiality policies imposed on financial institutions or designated non-financial professional activities, except if the requested information is legally subject to professional secrecy, secrecy of justice or if it is applicable to State secrets”.
angop
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
