Nyusi Opens Judicial Year
Maputo, 1 Feb (AIM) – Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, stressed on Wednesday, as historic marks in the development of the country’s judicial system, the training of more than 300 staff of the Legal Aid Iinstitute (IPAJ), the existence of over 3,000 lawyers and 589 judges throughout Mozambique.
He was speaking in Maputo during the opening of the 2023 judicial year, stressing the “exponential growth” of the judicial network, including the construction of 182 courts, under the presidential initiative to ensure that there is at least one courtroom in every district.
“We are evolving”, Nyusi declared. “The country now has 182 law courts, of which 166 are functioning, as well as two administrative tribunals, six fiscal courts and two customs courts. So, the right to justice is being carried to the people, right down to the grass roots”.
Major advances had been made, the President said, in autonomous institutions such as the Attorney-General’s Office (PGR), the Mozambican Bar Association (OAM), the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic), and the National Prison Service (Sernap).
Looking back to the colonial epoch, he said, “these things used not to exist. They have been institutionalized, because we are not afraid of these things happening. Once again, this shows that we are evolving”.
Immediately after independence in 1975, the only place in Mozambique where jurists could be trained was the Law Faculty at Maputo’s Eduardo Mondlane University, Nyusi recalled. But now there are more than 30 institutions that train jurists, including the legal and judicial training centre, where specialized professionals are trained.
As for legal reform, Nyusi noted the gradual abandonment of much of the antiquated colonial legacy, and its replacement by modern, Mozambican legal instruments, such as the new penal code, penal procedural code, commercial code, and family and inheritance law.
Despite these advances, the President said the legal system faces the challenges of organized transnational crime, terrorism, money laundering, drug trafficking, illegal immigration, environmental crimes, computer crimes, kidnapping and corruption.
The government’s expectation, said Nyusi, is that a judicial system will be built resting on a commitment to patriotism, ethics, honesty, humanism, and total impartiality.
“There is still a long journey to travel”, he admitted. “There are adjustments to be made, and many imperfections to be corrected”.
He pledged that his government will continue to respect the Constitution in full, including “total respect for the independence of the judiciary”.
(AIM)
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