The presiding judge of the Maputo City Juvenile Court, Maria Laura Karlsen, said today that the process of nominally restructuring the institution into a Family, Juvenile and Succession Court is underway, as since the announcement of the measure there has been no pronouncement to the contrary. Read more...

"I think it's in progress because nothing to the contrary has come to tell us that the project is no more. I believe that better days will come and at some point this transformation will take place," he said.

She envisioned cost savings within families with the possible implementation of this project.

"Instead of rushing to various courts to resolve these conflicts, it would be an added value for us to see the whole family brought together in a single case. We would decide on divorce, the division of property, the exercise of parental authority and maintenance," he explained.

She said that the institution interacts with other legal institutions in the country that deal with juvenile cases, precisely to reaffirm its existence and to be able to contribute to the resolution of cases.

"Our jurisdiction is only in the city of Maputo, and we sometimes make ourselves felt through television and our media outlets, and we travel around the provinces to cooperate, to exchange experiences with other provinces to find out how other colleagues are dealing with certain matters," he explained, explaining that cases are basically dealt with in the same way, although in the provinces cases are dealt with in chambers and not courts.

She pointed to more humane treatment, speedy proceedings, fair decisions "in the best interests of the child", expansion, modernization of infrastructure and the allocation of more human resources as one of the institution's main current challenges.

The Juvenile Court has specific jurisdiction and deals with civil and criminal matters. It was created by Decree 40/93 of December 31.