Luís Paulo Monteiro, who was speaking at the opening ceremony of the judicial year, questioned the productivity of the courts, reflected in 1 percent in relation to economic and financial crimes.
"In the last three years, more than 2,600 cases were opened on economic and financial crime, after preparatory instruction, 330 cases were transferred to the courts and of these only 26 cases went to trial. How to explain to society this productivity of 1 percent, what factors contributed to such low productivity?", he asked.
For Luís Paulo Monteiro, "courage is needed to change the current state of pending procedural in the judicial system, to apply a strategic program, aiming at visible and concrete results".
According to the chairman of the OAA, the strategic program must define medium and long-term deadlines and goals, in order to avoid that the reforms initiated become something intangible and lose their guiding reference.
"It is necessary to deeply debate what is happening in the secretariats of legal and judicial services, namely the resistance in the implementation of IT solutions, administrative organization, procedural management, human resources and infrastructure management", he enumerated.
Otherwise, continued Luís Paulo Monteiro, we will continue to see "very low productivity in the results of the courts".
"And the test could start with the 5th section of the Family Room of the Belas District Court, where the processes are literally paralyzed or the Cabinda District Court, where judicial magistrates are transferred every year and, as a consequence, there are very few court sentences," he stressed.
The chairman also expressed concern regarding the delays in the decisions of the Constitutional Court, which have caused several embarrassments to citizens and society.
"The running over in terms of deadlines clearly and unequivocally clashes with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law for the various types of processes. We must continue with the reform in the justice sector", he underlined.
According to the chairman, the OAA has 9,428 members enrolled, of which 4648 are lawyers and 4780 trainee lawyers, across the country.
In order to speed up, decongest and reduce bureaucracy, the delay recorded in document authentication services, at public administration counters, Luís Paulo Monteiro proposed that this competence be given to lawyers, "if not total, at least partial".
"We would all win, especially the citizens who would see their documents dealt with quickly in this way. This would indeed be a good contribution to the much-desired good business environment in Angola", he argued.
The chairman also expressed concern about the commercialization of legal education in Angola, "to the detriment of the interests of citizens who need qualified professionals to protect their rights", witnessing the indiscriminate opening of law courses.
"Law is the course with the largest number of teaching establishments. The order has implemented measures aimed at promoting the quality of legal education, among which the national exam for access to law stands out", he stressed.
Luís Paulo Monteiro recommended that the OAA be given a new public service, namely the competence to award a seal on the authorizations of the various law courses.
