Africa-Press – Angola. Jurist Costa Samuel understands that there is a dual function in the performance of guarantee judges, as this figure acts within the scope of the instruction of judicial proceedings and in judgments.
“If the guarantee judge participates in the preparatory instruction, he could not intervene in the judgment phase”, defended the jurist, in statements.
The figure of the guarantee judge is a recent consecration in the Angolan legal system, within the framework of constitutional reforms in the country.
Its task is to supervise the guarantees of citizens in the contradictory instruction phase, within the scope of criminal proceedings.
For Costa Samuel, and also on the guarantor judge, he said he is a judicial magistrate whose function is to supervise the acts of public prosecutors and can intervene in the trial phase.
“The guarantee judge can supervise public prosecutors and judge certain cases, such as applying coercive measures in case of need”, according to José Soki, also a lawyer.
The university professor, Eliseu Sacoji, fears that the “system will be overloaded”, given what he considered an eminent duplication of roles.
On the issue, the presiding judge of the Moxico Provincial Court, Rivaltino Van-Dúnem, noted that of the nine magistrates who ensure the functioning of the local District Court, three play the role of guarantee judges.
The magistrate was speaking within the framework of the 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.
Incidentally, the Public Prosecutor with SIC/Moxico, Nkuto Domingos, admitted that in practice there may be some inconveniences since, on the one hand, there will be cases waiting for their own processing, and, on the other hand, detainees awaiting the judge’s decision .
Despite this aspect, Nkuto Domingos says he sees “with good eyes” the entry into force of the guarantees judge in the Angolan legal system, because in his view it allows the practice of justice without violations of the rights and guarantees of citizens.
Last April, the Superior Council for the Judiciary (CSM) announced the introduction of the new figure in the Angolan legal system.
At the time of the introduction of this figure, the CSM reported that “the measures taken by the Public Prosecutor’s Office were not ensured with due supervision by a judicial magistrate, who has an independent and impartial role”.
The Criminal Procedure Code of 1929 saw the presence of a single magistrate (prosecutor) who was responsible and enforcer of legality, through the data provided by the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC), in the preparatory instruction phase.
With the application of the 2020 Code, the judge of guarantees became the supervisor and monitor of the rights of the accused citizen, before the trial.
The new figure follows the entry into force, in November 2020, of the new Angolan Criminal Procedure Code, which introduced changes in procedural formalism.
With the diploma, the inspection of citizens’ guarantees in the contradictory instruction phase became the main task of the guarantee judge.
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