Dundo - Attorney General Hélder Pitta Grós reiterated Friday that “the fight against corruption is nonstop struggle and the Angolan magistrates are more experienced in dealing with economic and financial crimes”.
Speaking at the end of the first meeting, aimed to take stock of the activity conducted in Eastern Judiciary Region, Pitta Grós said that “the fight is not intended to target ordinary people, but to allow justice to be done for the common good”.
“We remain engaged in the fight against corruption, especially now that we have gained more experience in dealing with this type of offences and in recovering assets diverted from the public purse”, he stressed.
He underlined that the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) is also focused on the protection of minors and issues related to public procurement.
As for the shortage of staff, the magistrate said that it was a cyclical situation, both at the level of magistrates and justice technicians, which has in a way conditioned the speedup in the treatment of criminal cases.
He added that to minimise this situation, a public tender is underway to fill 450 vacancies for justice technicians.
According to the prosecutor, the issue of magistrates is complex, because they must have specific training at the National Institute of Legal Studies (INEJ) after the Degree in Law.
“INEJ will start a course in March and only at the end of the year the theoretical part will be completed and then they will have another six months of practice. This means that only in 2024 we will have about 100 magistrates to join the Public Prosecutor’s Office”, he said.
The two-day meeting, which gathered magistrates from the eastern provinces of Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul and Moxico, discussed topics such as the “Public procurement law as a tool to fight corruption”, “Legal protection of children's rights” and “The role of the Public Ministry in affiliation processes.
