Chapo urges judges to strengthen judicial system

Mozambican President Daniel Chapo has urged the country’s judges to remain firm in the defence of legality, ethics and transparency. Speaking in Maputo to mark Judges’ Day, Chapo warned that ‘justice undermined by corruption is a direct threat to democracy, to the trust of citizens in institutions and to the development of our country’. According to the Club of Mozambique, Chapo praised the judges for their ‘selfless work’ over the years and stressed their importance in building the rule of law, declaring that judges are independent and owe obedience only to the Constitution and the law. The Mozambican Association of Judges (AMJ) is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Chapo stressed the need to fight against all practices that weaken the judicial system. Recalling the commitment he had made during his inauguration on 15 January, the President said ‘justice cannot be a distant promise’ and pledged that his government will work to overcome lethargy in procedures, dissatisfaction among magistrates and threats to judicial independence. The government, he added, intends to reform the country’s penal legislation, set up a Constitutional Court (to replace the current Constitutional Council) and an Accounts Tribunal, and to modernise the prison system. Chapo told the judges that the government cannot achieve its goals ‘without your immeasurable commitment to applying the law and administering justice’. He claimed that the AMJ has emerged stronger and more united despite the assassination of several of its members. ‘If those who murder judges think that this noble class of professionals will bend the knee, they have found that in reality they have provoked greater unity and strength’, he said.

Full report on the Club of Mozambique site