According to the councilor judge of the TC Carlos Teixeira, who was speaking to Lusa this Wednesday, the questions about the independence of the body "do not apply, because any citizen who will assume the role of judge, in this instance, must only obey the Constitution and the law".
"These are our beacons of action. And in this context, it is our responsibility to ensure that everyone, including judges and other State bodies, comply with and enforce the Constitution and other laws", he noted.
"My colleagues and I are completely reassured that our indicator, the faithful of our balance of action, is only the Constitution and the law", he reinforced.
Carlos Teixeira, who was speaking on the sidelines of a major conference on the 12 years of the Constitution of the Republic of Angola (CRA) in 2010, said he "has no doubt" that the TC "is independent" and society, he said, "has seen the positioning of that instance".
"It is a court, despite the rights that judges have in some circumstances to vote defeated, each one acts according to the CRA, the law, their own conscience and the knowledge they have in legal matters", he reasoned.
"The question that arises in relation to the lack of independence of our court is not, in my opinion, an issue, it is a non-issue", he stressed.
The Constitutional adviser judge also countered criticism of the alleged 'towing' of a political party in the performance of this judicial body, referring that despite the judges having partisan sympathy, they "act within the framework of the CRA and the law".
"Of course, we will all have sympathy for this or that party, but, it is good to say, and it results from the legal conscience and the nature of the function that we are going to exercise, that from the date on which we are invested in the function of judges of the TC or from any other court, our barometer of action is just the Constitution and the law", he stressed.
Angola will hold the next general elections in the second half of August, as established by the revised CRA in 2021.
Asked about the pressure on this body in an election year, Carlos Teixeira considered "this posture of political actors is natural: "And, as I say, not all pressure is legitimate, but those on the political spectrum seek to use all weapons".
"But we judges must be prepared to exercise only and only our function in obedience to the Constitution, the law and our consciences", he reiterated.
The largest political parties, namely the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA, in power) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA, larger in opposition) held their ordinary congresses in December 2021.
Both congresses were subject to precautionary measures sent to the Constitutional Court, where the complainants point out "irregularities" on the part of the organizers, who are waiting for the respective annotation of the instance.
Regarding the non-annotation, so far, of the respective congresses, the TC councilor judge denied any delay on the part of the body, recalling that there are procedures in the Constitution regarding the proceedings filed.
Regarding the annotation and other decisions of the courts, he added that "they have to be, first, notified to the addressees and only then is publicity given".
According to the judge, some entities have not been notified due to difficulties in finding their physical addresses.
"This is the reason for this delay, but it is not due to a lack of will, [due to] any lack of action on the part of the TC that these notes are not made", he justified.
"Probably, the annotation of this or that party's congress is not yet public knowledge, we always fulfill our role based on the substantive law and the adjective law", he assured.
"Processes are filed in our instance, they need to be resolved and, in the context of the resolution of the supervening issues, it is that the annotation will be completed either in one congress or in the other", concluded judge Carlos Teixeira.
