Mozambican courts become financially independent

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Mozambican courts become financially independent

12:13 CAT | 28 Nov 2017

Notícias

The government and the members of the judiciary have reached an agreement on a provisional model of financial independence of the courts to be in force from 2018, which will boost their functioning and expedite pending cases.

The development was announced in Maputo by the President of the Supreme Court, Adelino Muchanga, at the opening of the Extraordinary Session of the Judicial Council.

According to Muchanga, financial independence will allow the courts to better identify needs in terms of judges and effect changes where they deem necessary, improving the operation of judicial bodies without having to wait for government endorsement.

Moreover, the Supreme Court will have the responsibility to distribute the 2018 budget, once it has been decided. The management of the amount allocated to the courts will be decentralised, but without the possibility of reduction at the local level. Muchanga pointed out that it would always be possible to reinforce local budgets.

Financial autonomy, Adelino Muchanga points out, comes with the necessity to ensure rigorous and careful management of resources, which only an exemplary planning process will secure.

“The above-mentioned model is a very positive response to appeals on the need for financial independence of the courts, and it arrives in good time because it coincides with a time of marked shortage of means. The shortage of means comes at a time when there is a tendency for more demand from the courts, with an annual increase of more than six per cent in the last three years, which puts pressure on the courts for more efficient and effective judicial provision,” Muchanga explained.

Muchanga stressed that the pressure, in times of financial crisis, “is even greater given the role that courts must play in enhancing the transparency of public finances by timely taking accountability measures which discourage deviant behaviour in the management of state funds and promoting greater enjoyment of the economic and social rights of the citizen”.

The Extraordinary Session of the Judicial Council evaluated the budgetary limits and activities for 2018, the proposal of the Medium Term Fiscal Scenario 2019/2021, proposal for the classification of the district courts and evaluation of the recently approved Statute of the Officials of Justice.

Source: Notícias