Africa-Press – Cape verde. PAICV Youth (JPAI) points out that unfortunately the situation of justice in Cape Verde continues to inspire serious concerns, and also reveals, according to the Report of the Council of the Judiciary, that the volume of cases filed has increased year after year.
The State of Justice in matters of Youth is worrying—JPAI
The member of the National Political Commission and leader of JPAI Praia, Euclides Gonçalves, made this observation at the press conference held today on the State of Justice in matters of Youth.
With the debate on the current situation of justice at hand, in which magistrates consider it to be a fundamental asset for the development of a country and a guarantor of any Democratic Rule of Law, Euclides points out that, given the data, evidence and facts of the country, it is almost common sense among Cape Verdeans that the justice situation in Cape Verde continues to inspire serious concerns, despite the efforts of various actors in the justice sector.
The young politician also highlights that the Report of the Council of the Judiciary reveals that, during the judicial year in question, 14,282 cases were filed in all District Courts in the country, with a considerable increase in relation to the cases filed in the previous year ( 13,537), with 5,988 (42%) of a civil nature and 8,294 (i.e., 58%) of a criminal nature, which represents, according to the Council, an increase in demand of around 5.2%, compared to the same period last year. previous.
The report also states that the volume of cases filed has increased year after year, and it should be noted that, in the year to which this report alludes, there was a strong increase in criminal cases filed in the courts (8,294), which represents 58 % of the same.
“This procedural increase in criminal jurisdiction challenges us all to identify the causes of the increase in the number of criminal cases and thus be able to adopt, upstream, preventive measures capable of blunting new procedural inputs and thus facilitating the reduction of pendency ”, he analyzes.
On the other hand, it is stated in the Report of the Superior Council of the Public Ministry that regarding crime statistics, 88% of crimes registered at national level correspond to small and medium crime, with crimes against property corresponding to 49.7%, crimes against physical integrity 13%, crimes against personal freedom 9.9% and crimes against the family 7.3%.
Lack of justice reform and more crimes in urban centers
Euclides Gonçalves considers that this increase in criminal cases in the courts has a direct relationship with the high rate of criminal recidivism, the evident flaws and insufficiencies in social reintegration policies, as well as the current crime situation in Cape Verde.
“ The issue of crime has been increasing significantly, particularly in the country’s large urban centers, and this MpD Government has failed in policies to combat urban and juvenile crime in particular”, he criticizes .
He also adds that the actions of this government are always reactive, meaning that they have encountered the presence of coercive force in specific cases of a spike in urban crime and then without due monitoring and/or implementation of prevention policies so that the case successively comes to worsen in neighborhoods.
Still in his intervention, the leader of JPAI Praia highlights that the result of this MpD government’s failure with Youth is more than evident when analyzing the data on Cape Verde’s prison population.
“ The country currently has around 2,100 prisoners nationwide, of which around 74% are young people, this percentage being equivalent to around 1,554 young people in prison. These are heartbreaking data, which unfortunately reflect enormous sadness for the reality of Cape Verdean youth ”, he laments.
As the member of the JPAI National Political Commission points out, Cape Verde demands several challenges in matters of Justice, particularly in the youth field.
According to him, deep transversal reforms are needed that aim for substantial results, especially in the creation of decent jobs, in the reduction of poverty and extreme poverty, in obtaining income for young people, in occupation, training and socio-educational measures so that, on the one hand, , the number of young people in the world of crime is reduced and, on the other hand, this massive number of young people serving sentences in Cape Verde prisons is reduced.
Finally, Euclides emphasizes that it is necessary to correct the flaws of this MpD Governance and invest in public policies with a view to “ having a more peaceful society, in order to avoid burdening the State, especially with high costs for maintaining prison services and prisoners serving their sentences ”, he concludes.
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