The Mozambican
Bar Association (OAM) is using fees paid by its members to provide services
which are a state responsibility, according to OAM chairperson Tomas Timbane.Speaking
on Saturday, during a national meeting
of the OAM, Timbane said the order provides legal services for people unable to
pay for a lawyer, and to do this it is heavily dependent on the monthly
membership fees paid by the members. “The Order has been criticised
because it is supposedly not concerned with the question of access to justice”,
he said. “But the problem has to do with funding. The State gave the Order the
task to assist needy people, but we have received no funding from the State”.OAM
members who have worked as lawyers for more than three years pay a monthly membership
fee of 1,500 meticais (about 50 US dollars), while those who have been in the
profession for less than three years pay 450 meticais a month. Since the OAM
only has about 1,300 members, these fees will not raise a princely sum. In
addition to the membership fees, the OAM also receives some support from
international partners.Timbane said the OAM has set up an institute for access
to justice to coordinate the provision of services by OAM members to clients
without the money to pay for a lawyer.Addressing the Saturday meeting, Timbane
said that the current Mozambican legal system is very weak and damages the
interests of the poor. He called for better training for all those involved in
the administration of justice – judges, prosecutors and lawyers alike.It was
vital to speed up legal procedures, he stressed. “Mozambican society, like the
economy, has undergone development in recent years, but our justice system is
not managing to accompany this dynamic”, warned Timbane. “When you go to a
court, you can understand the distance between the reality of justice and the
lives of people”.He attacked the lack o respect shown by courts to ordinary
citizens. “It’s enough to recall that in this country people go to a trial and
stay there all day just waiting for it to begin. They spend years waiting for
their cases to be solved”. Monday, February 10, 2014
ASSOCIATION PAYING TO PROVIDE STATE SERVICES
The Mozambican
Bar Association (OAM) is using fees paid by its members to provide services
which are a state responsibility, according to OAM chairperson Tomas Timbane.Speaking
on Saturday, during a national meeting
of the OAM, Timbane said the order provides legal services for people unable to
pay for a lawyer, and to do this it is heavily dependent on the monthly
membership fees paid by the members. “The Order has been criticised
because it is supposedly not concerned with the question of access to justice”,
he said. “But the problem has to do with funding. The State gave the Order the
task to assist needy people, but we have received no funding from the State”.OAM
members who have worked as lawyers for more than three years pay a monthly membership
fee of 1,500 meticais (about 50 US dollars), while those who have been in the
profession for less than three years pay 450 meticais a month. Since the OAM
only has about 1,300 members, these fees will not raise a princely sum. In
addition to the membership fees, the OAM also receives some support from
international partners.Timbane said the OAM has set up an institute for access
to justice to coordinate the provision of services by OAM members to clients
without the money to pay for a lawyer.Addressing the Saturday meeting, Timbane
said that the current Mozambican legal system is very weak and damages the
interests of the poor. He called for better training for all those involved in
the administration of justice – judges, prosecutors and lawyers alike.It was
vital to speed up legal procedures, he stressed. “Mozambican society, like the
economy, has undergone development in recent years, but our justice system is
not managing to accompany this dynamic”, warned Timbane. “When you go to a
court, you can understand the distance between the reality of justice and the
lives of people”.He attacked the lack o respect shown by courts to ordinary
citizens. “It’s enough to recall that in this country people go to a trial and
stay there all day just waiting for it to begin. They spend years waiting for
their cases to be solved”. 
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comentários:
Post a Comment