BREVIARY OF THE PROCESS BEFORE THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT — REPUBLIC OF ANGOLA

BREVIARY OF THE PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT — REPUBLIC OF ANGOLA

Manuel Simas Santos & António Ribeiro Gameiro

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BORNITO de SOUSA, Lawyer, University Professor and Former Vice President of the Republic of Angola

-Luanda, December 6, 2023. -

EXCELLENCIES,

DIFFERENT GUESTS,

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

I begin by thanking and honoring the invitation extended to me by the authors to consider the launch of”BREVIARY OF THE PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ANGOLA”, the work of Distinguished Professors Dr. MANUEL José Carrilho de SIMAS SANTOS and ANTÓNIO RIBEIRO GAMEIRO.

The book deals with Constitutional Justice And of the functioning of the Constitutional Court of Angola and is designed, essentially, based on 3 (three) legal instruments: i. the Constitution of the Republic of Angola; ii. the Organic Law of the Constitutional Court and, iii. The Constitutional Procedure Act, fundamental texts in which it is incorporated and through which the authors highlight the types of processes and the way in which the protection of fundamental rights and the systems of guarantee and stability are carried out constitutional and of balance between the organs of sovereignty.

The “Breviary of the Procedure of the Constitutional Court - Republic of Angola”, hereinafter “Breviary”, is a work that joins others, whose main and directed purpose focuses on Angolan constitutionalism, in general, Constitutional Law and the Constitutional Court and constitutional process, in particular.

This is the case of the “Annotated Constitutional Procedure Law”, authored by the Venerable Judge Counselor retired from the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Angola, Dr. Onofre dos Santos, one of the first scholars to be concerned and bring to the public a work that deals specifically with the constitutional process in the Angolan Constitutional Court.

These are also the cases of:

a. The “Constitution of the Republic of Angola, Historical Framework and Preparatory Works/Dogmatic Framework - Our Vision”, a work in 3 Volumes, under the coordination of Professor Dr. Carlos Maria FEIJO;

b. “Angolan Constitutional Law”, by Drs. Jonatas Machado, Paulo da Costa and Esteves Hilário;

c. The publications of the Constitutional Court on “Constitutional Jurisprudence”; the last two Chapters of the book develop, in a very pedagogical and schematized way, the various procedural types and all the formalism and procedural ritualism. Here, as if, there is a kind of guide on how processes are born and how terms run until the draft Judgments are drafted, to be continuously evaluated and decided by the Plenary or by the Chambers, as they fall within the competence of one or the other specific body.

Chapter IV deals with Constitutional Oversight Processes: Abstract Supervision and Concert Supervision.

Chapter V, on the other hand, develops the processes of political representation and suffrage litigation, namely: the nomination of the President of the Republic and the Deputies, the Electoral Litigation, the Referendum, the Parliamentary Litigation, relating to Political Parties and Coalitions, as well as the Electoral Registry and Consultation on the implementation of the Constitution.

Excellencies,

My Ladies and Gentlemen,

I cannot finish without filling in an omission to which the reading of the Breviary refers us. The book says nothing about the authors, areas of activity and their connection to Angola, which is not negligible, considering that they are both citizens of Portuguese nationality. Nor about the published bibliography.

Professor Dr. MANUEL José Carrilho de SIMAS SANTOS, or simply MANUEL SIMAS SANTOS, has a law degree from the University of Coimbra and a retired Counseling Judge of the Supreme Court of Justice of Portugal, with over 40 years of experience in the judiciary. He was a member of the Superior Council of Legal Medicine, Chairman of the Board for the Supervision of DNA Profile Databases, founder of the Institute of Economic and European Law, founding member of the Portuguese Society of Criminology, member of the Advisory Council of the Portuguese Association of Criminology. And it's better to stop here...

From the list of books authored or co-authored, I highlight: The Guarantee Judge in Criminal Procedure - Republic of Angola; Notions of Criminal Procedure; Notions of Criminal Law; Annotated Penal Code, special part; Criminal Procedural Law of Angola; Criminal Resources, Angola; Angolan Criminal Law and Angolan Military Law and Justice (compilation).

For his part, Professor Doctor ANTÓNIO RIBEIRO GAMEIRO is an illustrious Lawyer, University Professor and Politician, having served several terms in the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic.

Books authored or co-authored by her include: The Constitution of Angola (co-authored with Doctor Simas Santos); Practical Guide to Criminal Procedure in Angola; Parliamentary Law Manual; External State Financial Control; Latin Breviary for Jurists; Politics - Analysis of Constitutional Law, Political Science and General Theory of the State; Parliamentary Control of Public Finance in Portugal; Introduction and General Theory of Law; the Budget and the General State Account; Public FINANCE and its Control; Accounting Manual for jurists; Accounting Manual for Entrepreneurial Managers and Public FINANCE.

Both have academic connections to Angola. And Professor Dr. SIMAS SANTOS shares with us the peculiarity of being our countryman, born in the city of Lubango.

I conclude, therefore, by congratulating the authors for the initiative and usefulness of the published Breviary and for their dedication to Angola.

Thank you very much.