A relação de Angola com a jurisprudência internacional: uma análise da aplicação da jurisprudência internacional pelos juízes nas decisões domésticas como garantia acrescida em matéria dos direitos humanos

Abstract

This paper analysed the involvement of the Angolan courts with international jurisprudence. In fact, it was necessary to verify the existence of the constitutional framework that gives national judges the power to apply international jurisprudence. The result of this research was that, at the legal-constitutional level, Angola's national judges can and must apply international jurisprudence and law on the basis of articles 13 and 26 of the CRA, which adopt monism as the principle of reception, incorporation and alignment with international law, and also of the provisions of article 38 of the Statute of the UN International Court of Justice, as well as the provisions of articles 20 and 37 of the Protocol of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, which allow for the reception of international jurisprudence as an auxiliary means of determining the rules of law. It is notable that Angola adhered to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as a commitment to the defence of fundamental rights. Paradoxically, however, Angola's judicial practice seems to follow the model of avoidance, in that the courts basically do not apply or base their decisions on international law, and even less on international jurisprudence. The aim of this work is to encourage national judges to become familiar with and apply international jurisprudence, especially that of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, as a prerequisite for judicial diligence and efficiency in accordance with the UN recommendations in the Bangalore Convention. In terms of comparative law, we have brought in the experience of South Africa in its process of transforming justice, as well as Portuguese-speaking African countries in the way they engage with international law and jurisprudence. Conventionality and the doctrine of res interpretata in the Inter-American system, in terms of the control and application of the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court, was another of our approaches in this work. Finally, we have shown the importance of Angola completing the process of accession to the African Court, which began in 2019, and depositing the Declaration of Recognition of the Court's Jurisdiction provided for in Article 34(6) of the Statute of the African Court to judge claims brought by citizens and NGOs, thus avoiding future condemnations.