CAPE VERDEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTS TWO JUSTICES, DISCUSSES NEW

UNCLAS PRAIA 000022


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR PREL KJUS PGOV CV
SUBJECT: CAPE VERDEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTS TWO JUSTICES, DISCUSSES NEW
MONEY LAUNDERING LAW

REF: A) 08 PRAIA 277; B) PRAIA 006


1. (U) Summary. During the first parliamentary session of the
year, ruling party PAICV and lead opposition party MpD reached
agreements on a number of important issues, including choosing
two Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) justices. Parliament also
approved the composition of a commission to consider proposed
amendments to the constitution and agreed in principle to a new
anti-money laundering law. End Summary.


2. (SBU) The Supreme Court of Justice (by function actually an
appellate court) until recently was composed of five justices
each with a fixed term on the bench of five years. A political
crisis erupted recently when the terms of all currently serving
Supreme Court justices expired and no agreement could be reached
on replacing them. Some justices continued to serve for years
after their terms had officially run out, casting in some doubt
the legitimacy of the bench as constituted. Resolving this
crisis was further blocked by each of the parties maneuvering
for advantage in recent elections. Each decried the sorry state
of the justice system, while quietly blocking efforts to reform
the system. The recent decision by MpD to break the deadlock
and support reform was a key turning point. That move, however,
was taken by MpD leader Jorge Santos without broad support of
the party leadership, and might very well cost him the party
presidency. Santos aspires to be Prime Minister, but in the
wake of what some in his party view as at least reckless if not
an outright betrayal, rumors abound that the party leadership is
courting alternative candidates for the 2011 national election.


3. The key element of reform agreed upon in the parliamentary
session expanded the bench from five to seven members, and
allows them to serve as both the constitutional court and the
SCJ. The two justices chosen by parliament were approved by a
2/3 majority. The MpD re-nominated current justice Raul Querido
Varela, who has been on the SCJ since 1992 and whose term
actually ended in 2003, while the governing PAICV nominated
Helena Barreto, currently a family court judge. As for the
remaining five justices, the President of the Republic appointed
one and the Superior Court of Magistrates elected four. From
among the seven justices, President Pedro Pires has chosen
Justice Arlindo Medina as president of the Supreme Court. For
the time being, these justices are also serving as the
constitutional court. This unorthodox arrangement will last
until a separate constitutional body -- which is already
permitted under the constitution but which has never been
formally created or filled -- is appointed by the Parliament.


4. (U) During the current session, the Parliament also created
a commission which will consider proposals for amendments to the
constitution. The commission has been given up to 6 months to
consider all proposals and submit its recommendations to the
full parliament. The 12 member commission - seven
parliamentarians from PAICV and five from MpD -- includes
respected jurists from both sides of the aisle. The two-seat
minority party, Cape Verdean Independent and Democratic Union
(UCID) has also been allowed to designate one non-voting member.
One notable member is David Hoppfer Almada, a respected lawyer
and Parliamentarian, and a possible PAICV presidential candidate
in the 2011 elections.


5. (U) MpD and PAICV also reached agreement in principle on a
new money-laundering law. If passed, the bill would allow for
more stringent measures to combat money laundering, including
changing banking secrecy laws to give authorities access to
personal accounts of money laundering suspects. During the
presentation of the bill, Minister of Justice Marisa Morais
explained that `it is of little use to seize drugs if the
traffickers continue to have huge balances in their bank
accounts' to continue financing their criminal activities.


6. (U) Comment. The PAICV and MPD had previously agreed that
the number of justices should be increased and that the SCJ
would exercise the functions of a constitutional court until the
new Constitutional Court is formed. The official creation of a
constitutional court is already contemplated under the
constitution but still requires implementing legislation from
Parliament. However, there is some confusion even within the
parliament as to what effect the current five-year mandates of
the combined Supreme Court/Constitutional Court Justices will
have on the future nomination of separate constitutional court
justices. When the new court is formed, perhaps in as little as
six months, the issue of the status of the current justices will
need to be resolved.


7. (SBU) Comment (continued). Each party has vocally criticized
the other's choice for the Supreme Court, but the election of
the justices is a step forward in the judicial reform process.
With more justices officially on the job, there is hope that
some of the case backlog will be eliminated. Laws to make money
laundering more difficult also show movement in a positive
direction, and will support efforts on the broader issues of
protection of territorial waters and of drug trafficking. While
Cape Verde continues to strengthen its laws on money-laundering,
its practical capacity for investigation and prosecution remains
very limited. Post is currently working with INL and the
Department of Treasury to conduct a baseline assessment of GOCV
money laundering capacity, with a view towards structuring a
technical assistance program that would dramatically improve
their ability to prosecute these and related crimes. End
Comment.


DUNN