ANGOLA Law and Practice Contributed by: Cecília Mungongo, FBL ADVOGADOS
7.7 Level of Intervention by a Judge The judge is free to intervene not only to maintain the proper functioning of the hearing, but also to question witnesses or experts and to obtain clarifications or information from third parties, whenever they deem it appropriate. Under civil procedural law, once the argument is over, the court must retire to the conference room to decide, once it has sufficiently clarified the questions of law and fact. However, this is not what happens in practice. Normally, the courts do not decide at the hearings, but only notify the parties of the judgment or sentence they have handed down, either because of the volume of cases pending or because of the com- plexity of the case. 7.8 General Timeframes for Proceedings Initial Complaint The lawsuit starts with the filing of the initial complaint at the court. After the opposing party has been served the summons, they may reply within a legal deadline (usually 20 calendar days). The defendant may present a counter- claim in the same pleading. After the opposi- tion of the defendant, a further pleading of the plaintiff and of the defendant is allowed in most cases. If there is a counterclaim, or if the defend- ant has raised legal questions precluding further proceedings, the plaintiff may also reply with a new pleading limited to this new matter. After this phase, new pleadings will only be admitted if they relate to supervening facts of interest to the cause. If this happens, the oppos- ing party may always respond. Pre-trial Hearing The judge may then designate the date for a pre-trial hearing; although it is optional, this is a frequent procedure. The pre-trial hearing seeks
a possible conciliation and/or the discussion of some legal aspects raised by the parties in their pleadings. In pursuing the proceedings, if no agreement was reached, the court will examine the prelimi- nary legal issues and rule whether or not there is any obstacle to the lawsuit proceeding to the merits of the case. If the court finds that it has all the facts to that effect, it may render its judgment on the merits. If it considers that there are still factual matters to be discussed, it must first rule which specific facts it considers to be already proven and which facts must be substantiated. This order is subject to the parties’ claim and appeal to a higher court. If this happens, the law- suit will only continue at the lower court after the appeal has been heard in the higher court. Providing Evidence After this stage, the parties will indicate the evi- dence they intend to produce at the trial. The court will then designate the date of the trial hearing. After the trial, the court will render the judgment. The total length of the proceedings depends on several circumstances, such as the summons procedure (depending on the place of residence of the defendant), the eventuality of an ex parte judgment, the complexity of the case or of evi- dence to be produced, and interim appeals or other incidents. In the simplest cases, the total length should not exceed one year. In other cas- es, it can take two or more years. Unfortunately, cases often drag on for five or more years due to their complexity, appeals and the slowness of the courts.
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