The mechanisms for collecting court fees are still carried out in an old-fashioned manner, which opens space for irregularities. The figures reflect the lack of digitalisation, administrative sluggishness, difficulties in the collection and reconciliation process, and the absence of a unified and automated system.
The State collected only 35.1 million Kz in court fees in 2024, representing a 422% increase compared to the 6.7 million collected in 2023, according to calculations by Expansão based on the State General Accounts (CGE) for both years. Even so, these are very low amounts, prompting criticism from lawyers and magistrates about the way these fees are collected, as the Angolan judicial “world” remains largely undigitalised.
The figures appear in the annexes related to the “General Summary of Revenue Execution by Nature” in the CGE of 2023 and 2024 and contrast with the perception shared by magistrates and lawyers regarding the flow of cases entering the courts, which they consider to be high. “There must be a gross error. Currently, the most expensive court fees in the SADC are charged in Angola, around 7% of the value of the lawsuits,” said one of the country’s most renowned lawyers, speaking to Expansão on condition of anonymity.
The source added that the courts are “clogged” with cases, and therefore such weak fee collection is unjustifiable. One only needs to look, for example, at the case involving generals Kopelipa (acquitted) and Dino, in which the convicted defendants are required to pay justice fees of 250,000 Kz, as well as other costs amounting to 1 million Kz for the companies involved.
According to data published on the Ministry of Finance’s website, the 6.7 million Kz collected in 2023 represents only 8% of the 82.2 million Kz in projected revenue for that year, and the 31.1 million Kz collected in 2024 represents just 6% of the projected amount. Very low execution rates that led Expansão to seek clarification from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
In its response, the ministry dismissed any “responsibility,” pointing to a 2023 decision by the then-President Judge of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, Joel Leonardo—who retired in August this year citing health reasons and was also President of the Supreme Court at the time.
“Revenue from court fees has no longer been the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, through the General Justice Fund, since January 2023, in accordance with Order No. 09/CSMJ/2023 of 26 January, issued by the President Judge of the Superior Council of the Judiciary,” the clarification states.
It adds: “Since that date, these [court fees] have ceased to be channelled to the General Justice Fund, which is now responsible only for emolument revenues arising from acts carried out in Justice Services, namely the Land Registry, Civil Registry, Commercial and Vehicle Registries, Identification Posts, Notary Offices, and Alternative Dispute Resolution Centres.”
Although the General Justice Fund — which, according to Article 10 of Presidential Decree 324/19 of 7 November, has a supervisory council coordinated by the Ministry of Justice and including the President Judge of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General of the Republic, and the Minister of Finance — has not been receiving court fee revenues since 2023, it was only in 2025, with the entry into force of Law No. 5/25 of 25 April, which establishes the General Fund of the Courts of the Ordinary Jurisdiction and the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, that the discontinuation of court fee revenue management by the General Justice Fund was officially formalised.
Source: Expansão
