The document that passed the scrutiny of deputies, during the fifth extraordinary plenary meeting with 163 votes in favor, none against and no abstentions, includes the specific amendment of 31 articles dealing with economic crimes, against property, against people and against security of transport.
According to the Secretary of State for Human Rights and Citizenship, Ana Celeste Januário, who presented the document, the three years of validity of the Angola Penal Code (CPA) enabled justice and legal operators and the general public to contact with the regulatory framework of reference.
"The evaluation of the diploma led to the discovery of a picture of insufficiencies, mistakes and inaccuracies and omissions to be conformed", argued the government official, referring that the change to the CPA is also due to the need to conform the panorama of penalties for certain crimes.
"In view of the concept of crimes underlying money laundering provided for in law 5/20 (Law to Prevent and Combat Money Laundering), insufficiencies detected in the mutual evaluation process that the country was subject to and placed the country in alignment with international standards currently in force", he explained.
Among the planned changes, as highlighted in the diploma's justification report, the initiative also aims to establish a concept of crimes underlying money laundering for "fair compliance in terms of the GAFI/FATF (Senior Expert Task Force) Mutual Assessment Report - came out of the March and April 2023 meeting in Tanzania.
President João Lourenço's legislative initiative also foresees changes to sections on crimes against people, namely sexual abuse of minors.
In the field of crimes against transport safety, the proposal, which must be sent to the parliament's specialized committees, determines that anyone found driving a motorized road vehicle, on public roads, without having a license and the driving results in damage or danger specifically, is punishable by imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to 120 days.
Deputies also approved overall the proposed law on Combating Illegal Mining Activity and generally the proposed laws that amend the law on International Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters and the law on Preventing and Combating Terrorism.
