Dual function causes ineffectiveness of the Guarantees Judge – Lawyer

8
Dual function causes ineffectiveness of the Guarantees Judge - Lawyer
Dual function causes ineffectiveness of the Guarantees Judge - Lawyer

Africa-Press – Angola. The District Courts need more judicial magistrates to prevent a criminal judge from exercising, at the same time, the function of the Guarantor, causing overload and lack of procedural speed, defended yesterday, in Luena (Moxico), the lawyer and teacher university student Eliseu Sacoji.

Speaking at a workshop that addressed “The Role of the Judge of Guarantees in the Angolan Legal System”, promoted by the Collective of Law Students and Jurists of Moxico, Eliseu Sacoji highlighted the “spirit of the initiative”, which safeguards the rights of the defendants, however, warned that its “nature is very bad”.

In the workshop framed in the massification of legal culture in Moxico, Eliseu Sacoji, the first lawyer to win a “Habeas Corpus” in the Court of Moxico, defended the need to increase the number of judges to separate the competences.

“There must be judges who deal with criminal matters (criminal room), tax, family and other issues, so we can achieve procedural speed”, explained the author of the book “Prohibitions of evidence and procedural nullities: a study of law compared between Portugal and Angola”.

A university professor, Eliseu Sacoji fears that the “system will become cumbersome” given the eminent duplication of roles, as a judge will play the role of criminal and judge.

On this issue, the Chief Judge of the Moxico Provincial Court, Rivaltino Van-Dúnem, admitted that of the nine judicial magistrates who ensure the operation of the local District Court, three have, since last May 2, the role of Guarantees judges, clarifying that this figure is also a judge of law, with criminal competence.

In order to overcome the shortage of judicial magistrates, Rivaltino Van-Dúnem informed that they would need at least 18 more judges, adding that this figure could be reached gradually, within a plan that is being drawn up by the Superior Council of the Judiciary Judicial (CSMJ).

The competences attributed to the Guarantee Judge, in the framework of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPP), among them, that of enacting measures depriving liberty, carrying out the first judicial interrogation of the detained defendant, gave rise to heated debates, since, until then, such skills, were exercised by public prosecutors.

In this regard, the Public Prosecutor with the SIC/Moxico, Nkuto Domingos, said that the task assigned to the Juiz de Guarantes, of interrogating the detainees and then performing other acts during the preparatory instruction, will reduce the quality of time for the other processes. the criminal forum and those awaiting civil and family judgments, the latter being “always urgent”.

“In practice, we will have inconveniences, in the sense that, on the one hand, there will be cases waiting for their own processing, and, on the other, we will have detainees waiting for the judge’s decision”, he recalled, for whom the Public Ministry (MP) had already expressed the concern about the reduced number of judicial magistrates to duplicate activities.

Notwithstanding this, Nkuto Domingos said that the MP “welcomes” the entry into force of the guarantees judge in the Angolan legal system, as it will allow the practice of justice that is well done, without violations of the rights and guarantees of citizens.

Lawyer Arcanjo Cambinda, who participated in the activity, highlighted the need to disseminate information, as this is a new reality in the Angolan judicial system, which will safeguard the rights of the defendants.

In criminal proceedings, the Judge of Guarantees, among others, has the function of controlling the legality of the criminal investigation , decides on provisional arrest, removal of secrecy and search and seizure procedures. The fundamental point is the separation between investigation and conviction: another judge will be responsible for judging the action.

During the workshop that addressed “The Role of the Juiz de Gurantees in the Angolan Legal System”, promoted by the Collective of Law Students and Jurists of Moxico, framed in the massification of legal culture in Moxico, it was addressed, among other topics, The judge of Guarantees in the Angolan Legal System – A Technical and Practical approach to its functionality.

The limits of Public Prosecution Magistrates with the entry into force of the Guarantees Judges in the Preparatory Instruction, the substantial changes in the acts and procedures of the procedural parties and the procedural advantages and disadvantages with the entry into force of the guarantees judges in the legal system Angolan, were other themes discussed in the event that had the participation of law students and jurists.

For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here