Court rules against Bar group's electoral debate

Angola's Bar Association has denounced a court order which halted its planned debate on electoral reforms as a ‘severe blow’ to democracy, reports Barrons. The Luanda Court of Appeal ruled that the event could not go ahead on the grounds that it fell outside the mandate of the Angola Bar Association (OAA). The association had organised what it called a ‘national dialogue’, inviting civil society figures, journalists, academics and lawyers to debate the proposed changes ahead of the 2027 general elections. ‘This decision, of unprecedented gravity, represents a direct assault on the institutional autonomy of the OAA, an attack on fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Constitution and a severe blow to the backbone of the democratic rule of law,’ it said. The Mozambican Bar Association (OAM), too, has criticised the cancellation of the debate, reports the Club of Mozambique. 

The court ruled in favour of a group of six lawyers who claimed that the OAA did not have the competence to promote this type of event. According to the Club of Mozambique, the OAM called the decision ‘weak’ and a veto on the mission of the Angolan judiciary, which cannot function as a ‘system of expediency’. The OAM said: ‘The suspension of this event represents an unacceptable setback in efforts to consolidate the rule of law and democracy in Angola and the African continent. The right to associate, debate and contribute to improving a country’s legal system must be respected and encouraged, not censored or silenced,’ the Mozambican lawyers argue. The OAA also promised to file a complaint against the judge ‘for violation of the duties of impartiality, reasonableness and respect for the constitutional limits of jurisdiction’ and acknowledged that it would appeal to the Constitutional Court ‘given the failure to apply constitutional rules relating to fundamental freedoms and the status of the Bar Association’.