US supports upgrade of judicial system

The United States hopes that its support of the modernisation of Angola's judicial system will not only result in better services for citizens and visitors to the Southern African country but also promote commercial relations between the countries. The US and Angola signed a Protocol of Cooperation for the Modernisation of the Angolan Judicial System in Luanda on Monday. US Ambassador to Angola, Christopher W. Dell, said that for the US "this cooperation has the ultimate goal of improving not only relations at the governmental level ... but, more importantly, of facilitating the development of commercial relations". He said the "principal objective of this new cooperation with the government of Angola" was to "allow the courts to provide better services via the administrative mechanisms of the judicial system here". On signing of the agreement, a US embassy statement said the "reform programme aims to enhance the efficiency of the Angolan judicial system, which will reduce the legal costs associated with business operations in the country". It said reducing such costs would "augment Angola's ability to attract foreign investment and increase the competitiveness of its products in the global market". Already "important changes" had been promoted, "including the random assignment of judges to cases, the introduction of a unified court case numbering system, and the ability to track the status of active cases", the embassy added.