Angola has enacted two critical pieces of legislation aimed at modernizing its criminal justice system: a new Criminal Code and a new Criminal Procedure Code, approved, respectively, by Laws Nos. 38/20 and 39/20, both of 11 November 2020. The new Codes are a direct result of the structural reform of the Angolan justice system that has been underway over the last couple of years, replacing in some cases quite outdated statutes, such as the 1886 Criminal Code and the 1929 Criminal Procedure Code.

The Criminal Code consolidates the country’s criminal framework formerly scattered across multiple statutes into one single and modern Code, aligning the legal framework with the internationally accepted principles and standards, including in particular matters such as white-collar criminal offences. We list below some of the highlights of the new criminal regime:

• Criminal liability is extended to legal entities in connection with criminal offenses in general, including notably corruption offenses, with the Criminal Code setting forth the conditions for the triggering of said liability and the applicable ancillary penalties (which may include closure of business);
• New corruption offenses in the private sector are punishable with fines and imprisonment term similar to those applicable to corruption in the public sector; amendment of the scope of some of the existing corruption-related offenses and applicable penalties, including a revision of the grounds for the waiver and reduction thereof; and changes to the concept of public official.
• Prohibition of cash-payments and holding of cash amounts above certain thresholds;
• New set of criminal offenses relating to breach of foreign exchange rules, cyber-crimes and data protection;
• Modernization and broadening of criminal offenses against the economy and the financial system, notably those involving fraud.

The Criminal Procedural Code seeks to further strengthen procedural guarantees in the defense of individual freedom applicable throughout the criminal procedure, notably by:

• Clarifying the scope and the rules applicable in each stage of the process;
• Setting forth specific rules for the fact-finding phase of the investigation (pre-trial phase) presided by an Investigating Judge (“juíz de instrução”), during which evidences and means of evidence may be disputed;
• Broadening the admissible means of evidence, notably those obtained by means of wiretaps and video surveillance.

The new Codes will enter into force on 9 February 2021.

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