Maputo — The Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, on Wednesday unanimously passed the first reading of a new Penal Code, which will replace the obsolescent penal code inherited from Portuguese colonial rule, which dates from 1886.
But the code was only passed in general terms, and must now be revised, article by article, by the Assembly's Constitutional and Legal Affairs Commission. The final vote on the new Code will thus not be taken until the first sitting of parliament of 2014, probably in March. This gives the Commission time to remove controversial articles which deputies objected to during Tuesday's debate, and which have earned widespread scorn outside the Assembly chamber.
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