In a press conference, AJA advanced some of the deliberations resulting from a national meeting of associate and non-associate judges of the organization, held on the 11th of this month, in which about 157 judicial magistrates of the first and second instance participated.
The vice president for AJA Information, Miriam Macedo, said that the concerns shared by AJA through the media had an effect, since they were invited by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, by the Civil House of the President of the Republic and by the specialized committee the National Assembly to discuss the analysis of the counter-proposals, which AJA will eventually reach these bodies.
The proposal for a punctual review of the Constitution of the Republic of Angola, in 2010, on the initiative of President João Lourenço, announced on the 2nd of this month, will be considered and discussed in the National Assembly on Thursday.
For AJA, the proposal brought by the head of state "is undoubtedly opportune", because "it is the desire of all Angolans to build and consolidate the democratic and legal state in the very young nation that is Angola".
In the view of AJA, despite the openness to contributions, the proposal presented by the President of the Republic, "contains setbacks that constitute a real threat to the judiciary".
"As we feel, the judicial magistrates, who intend to fragment the courts as organs of sovereignty, which, strictly speaking, will have repercussions on fragility, as institutions that administer justice", said Miriam Macedo.
According to the vice president, the judicial magistrates who participated in the meeting "vehemently repudiated the claim in numbers six and seven of article 176 of the aforementioned proposal".
"These figures show a clear setback in what is the consolidation of a rule of law, hierarchizing the courts and weakening the judicial power, as sovereign bodies and consequently holders of that body, that is, judicial magistrates, whose constitutional function is to administer justice in the name of the people ", he stressed.
According to AJA, the figures cited in that proposal represent a setback in the rule of law, because the foundations on which the proposal is based are contrary to the objectives of a specific reform of the Constitution, to various constitutional regulations, to international treaties, to Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, as well as the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
AJA's associated and non-associated judicial magistrates also considered it opportune to define and clarify so many other problems that the Constitution presents in what the judicial power refers to.
In turn, the vice president for social area, Tatiana Aço, enunciated as one of the proposals to present the separation of the figure of the president of the Supreme Court and the president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSMJ).
The argument for this proposal, continued Tatiano Aço, has to do with the democratic representativeness foreseen in the second article of the Constitution.
"If we look at our Constitution, the Supreme Court is composed of 21 advising judges, currently they elect the president of the Supreme Court, who by inheritance is the president of the CSMJ, two distinct bodies. The president of the Supreme Court has the jurisdictional competence and the president of the CSMJ has the administrative, management and disciplinary powers of the judiciary ", he explained.
Tatiano Aço reinforced that as president CSMJ, the administration of justice involves governing the lives of judges from the bottom to the top, from the first instance to the Supreme Court.
AJA understands that for a better management of human resources, a better administration, a better functioning of justice, the principle of reciprocity will be effectively consolidated by the choice of all magistrates from the bottom to the top, with regard to the figure of the president of the CSMJ.
"We understand that the same principle should be extended regarding the choice of the presidents of the five Courts of Appeal existing in Angola and the presidents of the 60 counties that will be implemented in Angola. This is one of the counter proposals that AJA will present to the National Assembly" , said.
Asked if the contributions presented to a day of discussion of the proposal in parliament will be taken into account, Miriam Macedo replied that several contacts have been made, by letters or letters and even requests for hearings with the various bodies and communications with deputies, with answers positive, believing that they will be taken into account.
"I believe that the time has come for the judicial magistrates to be heard and, this time, we are not talking about mere perks of the magistrates, we are truly concerned with what the President of the Republic's words were: preserving national stability and the values of the State right and democratic, to have a better Constitution so that it continues to be the main instrument for structuring Angolan society capable of bringing Angolans together around a common object of a society of peace, justice and social progress ", he stressed.
