Luanda – Issues related to precautionary procedures, one of the innovations of the proposed Labour Procedure Code, dominated the debate in the parliament's specialty committees on Thursday.
The proponent intended to introduce this chapter, which is not provided for in the labour legislation in force, because it is often raised in the work rooms, especially of the Provincial Court of Luanda.
In this context, the parliamentarians, who welcomed this initiative, introduced some changes in form and enriched the content of the rule on the precautionary procedure relating to the challenge of workers' dismissals.
They also analysed the challenge of other disciplinary measures, strike resolutions and the process of protecting safety, hygiene and health at work.
According to the proposal, the judge may order the immediate suspension of the activities of the requested undertaking when, from the initial application, there is sufficient evidence of the imminent and serious danger to safety, hygiene and health at work.
The text provides, as regards the refusal to provide work, after the filing of the action, that if the risk remains, the applicants may refuse to provide their activity.
In these cases, the company demands is prohibited the application of any sanctioning measure to the workers, under penalty of fine and suspension of the license.
On this subject, the Secretary of State for Justice, Ana Celeste, clarified that the initial application is instructed with any evidence that attests to the danger.
Hence, the Secretary of State continued, the judge may suspend the activities of the requested company or order its provisional closure when the examination determines an imminent and serious danger to safety, hygiene and health at work.
Precautionary procedures
The Executive, proponent of the diploma, justifies the enshrinement of precautionary measures in the Code taking into account the speed and purpose of preventing the violation of a right or of putting an end to an ongoing violation, taking into account that the normal delay of an action may render useless the intended effect and without any practical use the judicial decision.
This aspect has a great importance in the context of legal and labour relations, given its specificities, essentially linked to the legal and economic dependence of the worker and his family members on the job, and it is not certain that he will be unemployed and without a salary for a long time, taking into account the normal delay of proceedings before the Court and, fundamentally, when there are indications that their dismissal is unlawful.
In addition, precautionary measures are also especially relevant in labour law in cases of hygiene, safety and health at work and in cases of strike. LIN/ART/DOJ
