Talatona - The Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Marcy Lopes, Thursday in Luanda, called for closer cooperation between the Angolan Bar Association (OAA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The minister, who was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 23rd Annual Conference and General Assembly of the SADCLA running until September 22, spoke of the need for greater interaction and exchange of ideas to enable robust answers to be found to the various issues facing several countries to make democracy prevail.
The minister explained that Angola is a democracy because all Angolans, the state and other public and private institutions, including the Bar Association, work to make it so every day.
"It is not possible to talk about democracy without the legal practice, without institutions of justice and without institutions that are essential and auxiliary to justice, there is no democracy without rights stipulated and exercised by citizens, likewise there is no democracy without citizens having duties and being obliged to fulfill them and rights to be safeguarded and duties to be secured," the minister said.
The event is being held under the motto “Re-engagement for the independence of lawyers and judges for the sustainable development of democracy in the SADC region” and brings together 170 delegates from the Southern region and 120 Angolan lawyers.
The conference also covers topics such as defining the role of lawyers in promoting regional economic integration: Focus on the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), cyber security and legal practice management in the digital age, among others. GIZ/SC/AMP
