Luanda - The New Angolan Penal Code (CPA), to come into force in February 2021, represents a "great symbol" of national sovereignty, said on Tuesday, in Luanda, the minister of Justice and Human Rights, Francisco Queiróz.
According to the minister, who was speaking in an interview with Public Television of Angola (TPA), the legal diploma resulted from a wide debate and preparation, for more than 10 years, in which everyone participated "directly or indirectly".
Francisco Queiros said that its publication in State Gazeta on 11 November, a date with strong symbolism, represents a tribute to all those who led the country to Independence and did their best to liberate Angola.
The new Legal Document, he explained, conforms to the rules already enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Angola (CRA) and other legal systems, and is also in line "with the most modern in terms of criminal dogmatics".
"We have to be critical, it is part of the duty of citizenship, but we have to take into account the rules, because there are limits", he stressed, warning, however, that criticism, when done with the intention of offending or denigrating, becomes slander.
He explained that the President of the Republic has protection as one of the national symbols and of national unity, and these, when not preserved as symbols of union, "become a factor of conflict".
Its protection (of the Head of State) is a need for protection of the nation, not only for legal reasons, but also for psychological reasons, defended the minister.
Approved by the National Assembly, on the 4th of this month, and promulgated by the President of the Republic, seven days later, the new CPA should come into force in February 2021.
