Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Cape Verdean parliament approved today, in general and unanimously, the law that creates the Justice Information System (SIJ), an Internet platform for judicial operators and which aims to combat slowness and reduce procedural backlogs.
The diploma was approved in the first parliamentary session of November by the unanimous vote of the 64 deputies present at the session – the parliament has 72 deputies -, of which 33 from the parliamentary group of the Movement for Democracy (MpD, in power), 27 from the African Party of Independence of Cape Verde (opposition) and four from the Independent and Democratic Cape Verdean Union (UCID, opposition).
The diploma will now be discussed in the parliament’s Specialized Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Human Rights, Security and State Reform.
In his declaration of vote, UCID deputy António Monteiro classified the diploma as “excellent”, understanding that the adjustments it may undergo could provide the country with a “good instrument” to help speed up justice.
The deputy of the PAICV parliamentary group Démis Almeida said that the favorable vote from his party’s bench is a sign that electronic procedural processing “must be the way”, which will bring “positive impact” in the fight against two of the biggest evils of justice in the country, delays and pending proceedings.
Saying that the approval of the diploma is not expected to resolve the essential problems of justice, the deputy from the largest Cape Verdean opposition party therefore asked the Government for responsibility in implementing other measures.
In turn, the deputy of the MpD parliamentary group João Gomes highlighted the unanimous approval, saying that it is a “clear answer” that the proposal brings something that is “very important” for resolving the two justice problems.
And he promised that PAICV reserves will be debated and adjusted in the specialized committee, of which he is also a member.
SIJ, an electronic processing platform in courts and prosecutors’ offices, to consult and edit cases, was developed by the University of Aveiro, in Portugal, under the coordination of the Cape Verdean Ministry of Justice, which decided to create its own system from scratch.
Professionals – bailiffs and magistrates – will be able to access the system using an identification card with a ‘chip’ and an access number.
The Cape Verdean Minister of Justice, Joana Rosa, said today that the system will be managed by an institute while the administration of the processes will continue to be the responsibility of the courts, this after in November the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSMJ) of Cape Verde having claimed this management for himself.
“Judges are not prepared to monitor an information system”, stated the minister, regarding the system that should start operating in the coming months.
And he indicated that it will be an institution similar to the one that manages Citius, in Portugal.
“We are also hoping that in Cape Verde there will be an institute that can take care of the Justice Information System without jeopardizing the fundamental constitutional principle of the right to the independence of the judiciary”, he added.
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