The measure is contained in the Resolution of the 3rd Extraordinary Session of the Plenary of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSMJ), sent to the county courts across the country on April 11, 2023 and which Lusa had access to this Wednesday
The CSMJ deliberated the entry into function of guarantee judges, a figure long requested by justice operators in Angola, especially in the procedural instruction phase, when the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) will cease exercising the competences attributed to the warranty judges.
The decision of the CSMJ determines the entry into operation of 158 guarantee judges, namely two for the Supreme Court, two in each of the three courts of appeal (Luanda, Benguela and Lubango) and the rest for the 18 judicial provinces of the country.
The judicial province of Luanda, the most populous in the country, which includes the Court of the Comarca of Luanda and the Court of the Comarca of Belas, absorbs the largest number of magistrates, a total of 49.
The figure of the guarantee judge, who will have the mission of applying personal coercion measures in the preparatory instruction phase and of making the respective pronouncement, is supported by the Organic Law on the Organization and Functioning of the Common Jurisdiction Courts, approved in 2022.
The Public Prosecutor's Office currently exercises the powers of guarantor judges, during the course of the procedural investigation, an action "contested" by many actors in criminal proceedings, who consider it an "interested party" in the process.
According to the resolution, the plenary of the CSMJ deliberated on the appointment of guarantee judges after analyzing the reports of the work carried out by the members of the judicial provinces and the information provided by the presiding judges of the districts across the country.
The CSMJ also says it has taken note of Exalgina Gamboa's request for resignation from the position and function of advisory judge and president of the Court of Auditors, constituted by the Public Prosecutor's Office, and has decided to accept the said request.
This deliberative body of the judicial magistracy also proposes to open, in a timely manner, the corresponding competition to fill the vacancy in accordance with the provisions of the Organic Law and the Procedure of the Court of Auditors.
The resolution, signed by the presiding judge of the CSMJ, Joel Leonardo, also says that the plenary considered and approved in this session the proposal for the execution plan of judicial inspections for the judicial year of 2023.
