ANGOLA Law and Practice Contributed by: José Miguel Oliveira, Sara Alves Lourenço, Caio de Mello Ferreira and João Saiago Canjeque, VdA
1. Maritime and Shipping Legislation and Regulation 1.1 Domestic Laws Establishing the Authorities of the Maritime and Shipping Courts The main domestic laws establishing the powers and authority of the Maritime Court are the Civil Procedure Code and Law No 29/22 of 29 August 2022 (“Law 29/22”), which establishes the prin - ciples and general rules on the organisation and functioning of Common Jurisdiction Courts. Furthermore, Executive Decree No 29/95 of 7 July 1995 creates the Maritime Affairs Chamber ( Sala das Questões Marítimas ), a first-instance special-jurisdiction court with authority over admiralty and maritime claims. The jurisdiction of this chamber is determined by Law 29/22 and Executive Decree No 26/97 of 6 June 1997 (“Executive Decree 26/97”), and includes all mat - ters related to admiralty and shipping law. The rulings provided by the Maritime Affairs Cham - ber may be appealed to the Court of Appeals. Experience demonstrates that the most com - mon maritime and shipping claims filed with the Maritime Court relate to collisions and disputes concerning cargo and maritime claims (ship arrests). 1.2 Port State Control The National Maritime Agency ( Agência Marítima Nacional , or NMA) is responsible for exercising port state control over all ships, vessels, plat - forms and seagoing craft calling at, or anchored in, a national port or temporarily deployed at sea in Angolan territorial waters. Under its port state responsibilities, the NMA holds the authority to inspect all vessels operating in Angola and to assess fines for infringements detected.
In this regard, it is worth mentioning that Ango - la is a member of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), having ratified a number of fundamental resolutions on international ship standards and port state control. Angola is also a member of the Memorandum of Understand - ing on Port State Control for West and Central African Region. Moreover, Law No 27/12 of 28 August 2012 (the “Merchant Navy Law”, as amended by Law 34/22 of 13 September 2022) is the main domes - tic statute on port state control, establishing that the NMA may delegate the inspection of foreign vessels to classification societies or other recog - nised technical organisations that have entered into a statutory delegation of powers agreement with the Angolan state. The NMA is also the authority responsible for investigating and responding to any maritime casualty, such as grounding, pollution or wreck removal. In performing its duties, the NMA is assisted by local port authorities and captaincy with jurisdiction over the area in which the casu - alty took place. Pursuant to the Merchant Navy Law, environmental authorities such as the Min - istry of Environment may also be called to act in the event of (eventual) environmental damage and pollution. 1.3 Domestic Legislation Applicable to Ship Registration The key domestic pieces of legislation applica - ble to ship registration are the Merchant Navy Law, Decree-Law No 42644 and Decree No 42645, the last two both of 14 November 1959 (as amended), establishing the rules on commer - cial registry. In accordance with the Merchant Navy Law, all vessels, ships or other maritime craft are eligible for registration in Angola and fly the Angolan flag, provided that previous inspec -
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