Luanda, Oct. 8, 2025 (Lusa) - The Angolan minister for justice and human rights stated on Wednesday that Angolan courts have administrative and financial autonomy and can recruit staff and determine their expenditure without state intervention.
Marcy Lopes opened the Second Summit of the Superior Councils of Justice of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), whose theme is "Separation of Powers and the Administrative and Financial Autonomy of the Judiciary" and which is attended by delegations from all the CPLP member states, Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste.
"It is up to the courts to say what the law is, and they do so, operating with administrative and financial autonomy, being able to recruit staff and determine their budgetary expenditure in accordance with the law, without the intervention of other branches of the State. This is separation of powers, this is autonomy," he said in his speech.
According to the minister, the separation of powers is a structural pillar of the democratic state and the rule of law, based on the multiplicity of the exercise of public power by different institutions, "which are not confused and do not intend or seek to exercise functions that do not fall within their legal remit “lato sensu” [in the broad sense]".
"The separation of powers is not only what the Constitution establishes, allowing or prohibiting, it is also everything that public or private institutions do and do not do," he said.
However, he added, "the separation of powers is not rigid, it is dynamic and allows for the interdependence of functions, which guarantees the functionality of the State and public powers, with the well-known checks and balances".
"Hence, the administrative and financial autonomy of the judiciary cannot be viewed separately from Parliament, which approves the state budget, nor from the Government, which determines the rules for executing this same budget by making ordinary and extraordinary financial quotas available," he added.
According to the minister, the separation of powers is guided by open dialogue, understanding and balance, emphasising that the interdependence of functions plays the role of dialogue in institutional relations, allowing for a rapprochement between the three sovereign powers of the State - executive, legislative and judicial.
"It is imperative to remember that in exercising the administrative and financial autonomy of the judiciary, the courts do not define justice policy, this task is reserved exclusively for the executive branch," he stressed.
The Angolan Minister of Justice and Human Rights emphasised that "however much or little the administrative and financial autonomy of the judiciary may mean in general terms, in concrete situations, it has its limits and hermeneutic extension in what the Constitution and the law determine".
Speaking to the press, the leader of the Angolan Bar Association (OAA), José Luís Domingos, said that in the minister's view, it is up to the executive, within the scope of the country's policies, to have a specific policy for justice, as it does for other institutions.
For José Luís Domingos, "it is indisputable that this must be seen, taking into account the rule of law."
"The policy of the judiciary is based on the principle of the rule of law, that is, it is not necessarily the executive that decides how the independence of power should be, no! It is in the implementation, for example, whether to increase the number of courts or perhaps more judges, from the point of view of budgetary and administrative management," he said.
The leader of the Bar Association also considered that, in relation to what is essential for the independence of the judiciary, "it is indisputable that the executive does not even have the power to weaken or strengthen it, this emanates directly from the Constitution".
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