The Judge of Guarantees in the Angolan Legal System: Criminal Jurisdiction

Abstract

Respect for the rights, freedoms, and guarantees of citizens, when enshrined in its constitution, constitutes an immeasurable milestone for any state that seeks to be democratic and governed by the rule of law, bringing together democracy and legality on the one hand, and justice, citizenship, and human dignity on the other. They constitute a sum of fundamental principles, with their respective constitutional dignity. With the approval of the new law that approves the Code of Criminal Procedure, law 39/20 of November 11, and with the inauguration and commencement of duties of 183 guarantee judges on May 5, 2024, under this same law, all powers that were attributed to the Public Prosecutor' s Office cease, becoming solely and exclusively the responsibility of the guarantee judges, both in the preparatory investigation phase, that is, in the first judicial interrogation, to apply the measures of personal and patrimonial coercion, and to direct the contradictory investigation, with the aim of obtaining a final decision that confirms or invalidates the merit of the accusation or the archiving order.