Africa-Press – Angola. The president of the Supreme Court (TS), Joel Leonardo, defended, in Luanda, greater speed and fairer action by the courts and that these produce a positive, concrete impact on the lives of citizens.
The venerable judge, who spoke at the opening session of the Judicial Year 2024, highlighted the need to promote access to concretely material and egalitarian justice, which is always guided by respect for the dignity of the human person.
In his speech, the president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSMJ), referred to the duty of all courts in the country to speed up the processing of files linked to the trafficking of fuel, diamonds and other natural resources, as well as the vandalization of public goods.
According to Joel Leonardo, these are processes that must be publicized in the media, as part of general positive prevention.
He spoke about some of the main achievements of the CSMJ, in the last judicial year, and recognized the challenges still ahead, adding that the Supreme Court is aware of the permanent need to overcome less good situations, which is why it has been multiplying training actions to rescue the essence of the judge.
According to the president, an important milestone in the activity of the Superior Council of the Judiciary was the entry into operation, in May 2023, of the guarantee judge, which, in his opinion, represented a gigantic step towards the transparent distribution of more justice. neutral and balanced, suitable for modern democratic and legal states.
At the time, 176 were launched, and there are currently 359 guarantee judges in the country, with more than 15 thousand cases already receiving treatment since these specialists came into operation.
He also mentioned that during the judicial year just ended, the mission of placing the courts ever closer to citizens continued, implementing the districts of Kilengues, Camacupa, Nzeto, Icolo and Bengo and Cazenga, in addition to Viana, opened this Thursday.
On the other hand, he stressed that the judiciary is not oblivious to the large investments that shape the activities linked to the Lobito Corridor, a region in which the movement of people and goods will increase the volume of business and, obviously, the level of litigation will rise.
“It is advised that we strengthen the organization and functioning of the courts of Lobito, Cubal, Caála, Huambo, Cuito, Camacupa and Luena, so that the precautionary measures can fulfill their specific procedural purposes”, he said.
Judicial Year 2024
Opened this Friday by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, under the motto “For the achievement of financial autonomy and modernization of judicial activity”, the judicial year runs from the first day of March to the 21st of December of each calendar year.
The judicial year is a solemn act that constitutes the framework for the functioning of courts of common jurisdiction, namely the District Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
Also speaking at the opening session were the Attorney General of the Republic, Hélder Pitta Groz, and the president of the Angolan Bar Association (OAA), José Domingos, whose communications dealt, among others, with issues linked to the strengthening and modernization of institutions of justice, improvement of working and social conditions of the class.
According to Pitta Groz, financial autonomy and the modernization of judicial activity, reflected in the motto of the judicial year now open, are imperative conditions for the success of the mission of the State’s judicial and judicial bodies.
He added that financial autonomy presupposes management capacity, meaning that bodies involved in the administration of justice must be structured in such a way as to carry out this “non-judicial” task.
For the prosecutor, modernizing judicial activity means adjusting it to current social demands, which presupposes, from the outset, ensuring harmonious action by judicial and judicial bodies, in order to achieve the full realization of justice.
“Strict respect for the different roles that the law confers on the judicial authorities that intervene in the criminal process is an unavoidable condition for achieving its ultimate purpose”, he highlighted.
However, the president of the OAA, José Domingos, said that strengthening institutions is the only way to build the nation, having appealed for everyone’s involvement and effort in this regard.
He considered the implementation of an increasingly independent and efficient judiciary to be essential, as well as improvements in the continuous training of staff and decent remuneration.
He also pointed to the creation of a commission for reform, implementing a rotating presidency model at court level.
The ceremony was attended by, among other individuals, assistants from the executive branch, judicial and Public Prosecutor’s Office magistrates, and leaders of political parties.
ANGOP
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