Célia Posser is a lawyer and politician in São Tomé and Príncipe. She served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Maria do Carmo Silveira between 2005 and 2006 as Secretary of State for Public Administration and Social Communication. After leaving the government she remained in the country to continue to work as a lawyer and was elected head of national bar association in March 2017.
Célia Posser | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Secretary of State for Public Administration and Social Communication | |
| In office 2005–2006 | |
| Prime Minister | Maria do Carmo Silveira |
| President of the bar association | |
| Assumed office March 2017 | |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | São Tomé and Príncipe |
Career
editCélia Posser served as Secretary of State for Public Administration and Social Communication between 2005 and 2006 in the X Constitutional Government of São Tomé and Príncipe under Prime Minister Maria do Carmo Silveira.[1][better source needed] During her time in government she began the privatisation of the state-owned radio and television stations and also awarded the nation's first two private radio station broadcast licenses.[2] Posser was also a representative of São Tomé and Príncipe in 2005 negotiations with Angola to improve cooperation in defence, transportation, fisheries and communications and to discuss forgiveness of $21 million of debt owed to Angola.[3] She has also served as president of the island state's Supreme Press Council (the press regulator).[4]
Posser has worked as a lawyer in São Tomé and Príncipe since 2007.[5] She has also been president of the Human Rights and Gender Platform, a private human rights organisation based in the country.[6] Posser is a member of the Association of Women Lawyers.[5]
Posser was elected president of the São Tomé and Príncipe bar association in March 2017 for a four-year term. She is the second woman to hold the position. Posser promised to ensure that the country's lawyers would promote justice and uphold human rights. She was elected at a difficult time for the judicial system, when court proceedings were on hold owing to strikes by court officials and public prosecutors.[5]
In her role as bar association president Posser has warned of the dangers of a top-down restructure of the court system by President Evaristo Carvalho.[7] She also announced, on 18 October, that lawyers in the country would be ceasing pro bono work they had long been undertaking for the poorest citizens of São Tomé and Príncipe. They had previously worked for free and paid the expenses of the court staff from bar association funds. The arrangement was withdrawn in the hope that the government would introduce a proper legal aid system to allow access to justice for all.[8]
References
edit- ^ Sequeira, Victória Cecília Almeida. A situacao das mulheres na sociedade santomse (PDF) (Bachelor's thesis) (in Portuguese). Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. p. 36. hdl:10183/26404. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ "Governo vai reestruturar rádio estatal face à liberalização do sector". Noticias Lusofonas (in European Portuguese). 21 February 2006. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ "São Tomé e Príncipe quer perdão da dívida de USD 21 milhões". ANGOP (in European Portuguese). 28 November 2005. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ "Annuaire des Instances Francophones de Régulation de la Communication" (PDF) (in French). Réseau Francophone des Régulateurs des Médias. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-17.
- ^ a b c "Célia Posser toma posse hoje como Bastonária da Ordem dos Advogados". Téla Nón (in European Portuguese). 24 March 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ "Assessment of Development Results – Sao Tome and Principe" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ ALFA, Grupo (27 June 2017). "São Tomé e Príncipe: Novo ano judicial com "reformas profundas" na agenda -" (in European Portuguese). A Naca. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ "Advogados suspendem defesas oficiosas por falta da contribuição do Estado". STP Press (in Portuguese). 18 October 2017. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.