Africa-Press – Angola. The Superior Council of the Judiciary holds a plenary meeting today in Luanda. According to a note from the supervisory body of the judiciary, the meeting plans to analyze the sector’s performance in the country.
That institution that oversees the administrative management of the Angolan judiciary held, yesterday, a meeting of the Standing Committee, under the guidance of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Joel Leonardo, who presides over the Superior Council of the Judiciary. Yesterday’s meeting was behind closed doors.
Bar Association elects new leadership
Maximiano Filipe | Benguela
The Provincial Council of the Angolan Bar Association (OAA) will elect, in November, the new president for the triennium 2022/2025. The information was provided, yesterday, to the press, by the spokesman of the Electoral Commission, lawyer Chipilica Eduardo.
He added that the electoral calendar was submitted to the National Council of the OAA and followed the entire central instruction, which approved the holding of the event. He said that three applications had been received, submitted by the 14th of this month, enough time to better appreciate the structuring and administrative aspects of the same.
By 16 October, he clarified, the analysis and evaluation of the applications was concluded, and they are in accordance with the instructions established in the regulation.
He mentioned that the candidates had enough time to develop the campaigns. That is, 20 days before the date of the elections, which is an important step that demonstrates clarity and a marked level of organization, so that on November 18, the new OAA Council in Benguela will be made known to society.
He recalled that the release of the electoral rolls took place on 19 October and voting by correspondence runs until 17 November of the current year.
The OAA Provincial Council, which has now expired, was led by Valdino Sima. It has more than 100 permanent lawyers and close to 200 trainee lawyers in full activity.
Human rights
The provincial delegate for Justice and Human Rights in Benguela, Celdo Donvala, said that there are positive indicators in terms of growth in Human Rights matters, at the level of various public institutions.
Currently, the volume of complaints about poor service or incorrect procedures, in institutions in the province of Benguela, is already part of the past. According to the official, this reality makes the Justice sector proud, as it received numerous complaints about mistreatment, despite many of them resolved in a peaceful and pedagogical way, without the need for the intervention of the Justice bodies.
“In percentage terms, we are above 80 percent. Even so, this result does not make us comfortable. For this reason, the sector has developed awareness-raising actions in the communities on Human Rights matters”, he underlined.
Donvala highlighted the lawyers’ commitment to follow up cases with citizens who do not have the financial means to pay for the legal expenses, as well as the Provincial Human Rights Committee of the province, composed of 24 members. “They have been able to mitigate, through counseling, the various cases, with the communities in order to relieve the courts”, he admitted.
He made it known that, in this domain, in a timid way, the province registered some cases of justice in its own hands, the lack of procedural speed, the evasion of paternity, as well as the need to fine-tune the intervention mechanisms of the police bodies, in the face of the cases that occur in the localities.
He underlined that the Delegation of Justice in Benguela has done everything to ensure that compliance with the norms on Human Rights is fully materialized and that it will be the most desired by all: “Proof of this happens in prisons where no preventive detention”.
He also explained that another challenge for the sector is the entry into force of the Juvenile Court Law, as it is one of the very essential instruments to facilitate the handling of cases of minors in conflict with the law.
“It is a law that has already been approved, but at the moment the creation of infrastructural and administrative conditions is lacking, in the case of Benguela, a Reception and Reeducation Center for Minors, a fact that will guarantee a better integration of them in society”, he reiterated.
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