The Approach to Transit approved by the Municipal Council of Maputo on the base of the law

Abstract

The present research work starts from two premises, the first is that normative acts are one of the forms of manifestation of police power and the second is that one of the limits of police power is the principles of law. Based on these two assumptions, it analyzes the Traffic Posture in force in the Municipality of Maputo in the light of the principles of presumption of innocence, contradiction and proportionality. The analysis is done through a qualitative approach using bibliographic and legislative consultation. The bibliographical consultation was constituted by Brazilian, Portuguese and legislative doctrine that resulted in the analysis of Mozambican and Portuguese legislation and two Brazilian Judgments. As a result, the research concluded that the Traffic Posture in force in the Municipality of Maputo violates the principle of the presumption of innocence because, once the offense by the Municipal Police Officer, which consists of parking in a prohibited place, the citizen is presumed to be found guilty and obliged to pay the fine immediately, under penalty of having their vehicle removed, with no space to open an investigation process. The norm still violates the principle of adversary proceeding as it does not give the citizen the opportunity to contradict and it also violates the principle of proportionality, as there is a great disproportionate between the absence of the presumption of innocence and the right to contradict in the legal sphere of the citizen and the public end that these measures are intended to achieve. The lack of legal provision for inspection of municipal positions by the governing body of the Municipality of Maputo contributes to these exaggerated legal limitations.