Angolans and justice: trust in the courts

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Angolans and
justice: trust in the courts

Only 31% of citizens trust the judicial system a lot or somewhat — a fall of 9 pp since 2019. A longitudinal study with data from Rounds 8 and 9.

Autor: Carlos Pacatolo  ·  13 min read

Study
WHAT ANGOLANS THINK

JUSTICE

Angolans and
justice: trust in the courts

A justice system seen as inaccessible and partial

In Afrobarometer Round 9 (2022), only 31% of Angolans say they trust the judicial system "a lot" or "somewhat". This is a fall of 9 percentage points from Round 8 (2019), when the figure was 40%. Among lower-income groups — defined as those who have gone without food or clean water in the past year — trust falls to 22%.

What Angolans want from justice reform

When asked what they would most value in a judicial reform, Angolans place independence from political power first (52%), followed by efficiency in processing cases (38%) and financial accessibility (27%).

The longitudinal data also reveals a significant pattern: trust in justice fell more sharply in provinces that had high-profile corruption or land cases between 2019 and 2022 — Luanda, Cabinda and Benguela. This suggests that specific events, rather than general disillusionment, are driving the decline.