Maputo, Mozambique — Mozambican Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi has described the on-going re-organisation of the justice system as "a challenge for the development of the country."

"Where there is no justice, there is no security. Where there is no security, the uncertainty is great," said Mocumbi, who was speaking Wednesday at a seminar on a project studying how to strengthen the institutional capacity of the justice ministry.

Without a clear organisation of the ministry, "fear and insecurity gain ground, and investors become reluctant," he said.

"All this has an impact on the dynamic that we want to apply to the process of recovery, growth and national development," he warned.

The seminar was a culmination of a process that it is hoped will lead to a complete and integrated strategy for the justice sector.

According to Justice Ministry sources, the integrated planning exercise begun by the government in 1999, seeks to draw up a shared vision of the government's role in the sector, and provide a medium and long term development strategy for the ministry.

"Justice isn't created by government nor by the attorney-general's office, nor by the police or the courts. Justice is a complex end-result, impregnated with cultural aspects and defined by the country," Mocumbi said.

"It is up to the institutions to administer that justice in the name and exclusive interest of the sovereign people," he added.

The government recognised that hard work still needed to be done to reformulate the justice system, but Mocumbi said the present study "shows that it is possible to reach our objectives."

The re-organisation of the justice sector aims fundamentally at strengthening and consolidating the independence of the judiciary, and to ensure that all the organs of state power are working properly.

The government also wants to consolidate and expand legal assistance and legal sponsorship to poor citizens, particularly as regards their right to defence in criminal cases.

Mocumbi argued that the full enjoyment of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Mozambican constitution demands of all citizens to struggle against crime and against violations of legality.