Carlos Feijó

He grew up in Rangel, one of Luanda’s poorest neighbourhoods. He lived in Cazenga. He grew up listening to his parents say: «You have to study in order to be someone tomorrow». The future may have been uncertain, but Carlos Feijó did study, and he studied hard, to become one of the most recognised figures in Angolan law, legislation and politics. He fell in love with law early on. Being a legislator has marked his career, as has being a university professor. He has drafted laws and assessed others. He has taught students, which makes him proud. He has written scientific works. His biography is still to be written... Who knows, it may be coming soon. As an investor, his sights are set on the finance and industry sectors. This is his focus. At the age of 60, he tells us that he is «obsessed with success». And, as it happens, he’s had a successful life. But... «success doesn’t fall from the sky, success without work only exists in the dictionary». If he wasn’t a lawyer, he’d be a sociologist and philosopher. This is Carlos, who, in addition to all these facets, enjoys music, playing tennis and reading.

What memories do you have of your childhood?
The memories of a boy who grew up in the poor neighbourhoods of Luanda, namely in the neighbourhood of Rangel. These are poorer memories, where the future was very uncertain. 

And where did you find all that strength to succeed in life despite growing up in that poor neighbourhood, where the future was uncertain?
Well, first it was at home, with my parents saying «you have to study in order to be someone tomorrow». That was the motto. Then I grew up and I studied. In essence, it was the investment in study. I always invested in specialised and competitive studies.   

And what had the greatest impact on you during your childhood?
During my childhood, and this is what my mum says, I was always a very isolated person. 

Did you live in your own world?
I lived in my own world, I fantasised, I isolated myself a lot. I didn’t interact much with others, or with my siblings. I played by myself, fantasising and creating my own characters. 

What about adolescence?
Adolescence is that terrible phase when you start to have more contact with the world, with people. But even at that stage, I didn’t lose focus on my studies, my goal was to become someone in life.

How did you get into the legal profession?
I don’t think I’ve ever said this before. In 1976, Angola had been invaded by the South Africans in the south and, in the north, mercenaries of various nationalities also wanted to take over the capital, Luanda. Some of them were captured by the government forces. And the famous trial of the mercenaries ensued. A court was set up and a prosecutor was appointed, Dr Manuel Rui Monteiro, who delivered the indictment. I loved the rhetoric so much, especially the argumentative rhetoric, that I fell in love with law there and then. I felt that this was my path. That book, that rhetoric, has left a mark on me to this day. From then on, I started thinking about law. 

Does being a legislator, making laws to be obeyed by everyone, give you any sense of power or, in turn, limit your freedom a little?
It doesn’t give a feeling of power. It can give you the feeling of having done your duty. Because being a lawyer and participating in the process of shaping legislation, or in shaping the legislative order, has many advantages. Firstly, you have a better understanding of the meaning and scope of the legislation, which we can easily call being a material legislator, where you better understand the spirit and meaning of the formal and organic legislator. It does give you greater power to interpret legislative order or the will of the legislator.


«What is the best solution today could be the worst solution tomorrow»

And that never limits your freedom?
I mustn’t let it limit my freedom in any way. Sometimes, being a legislator, whether of a constitution or a law, gives me this advantage of regulatory interpretation, but at the same time, it gives me the freedom to be able to assess whether the regulatory solutions that have been found in the meantime and adopted by the formal legislator, by parliament, are the best or not. So, it doesn’t limit my freedom, because later on, for example, I can say that the solution we presented was wrong, it didn’t work. That could happen. Because the reality of life is much more complex than the ability to foresee, whether it’s the material legislator (the one who writes it), or the one who is going to apply it, or the one who is going to eventually approve the law. Therefore, it doesn’t condition my freedom, especially from the perspective that if it doesn’t work out, I can’t continue to defend that legislative solution, because the reality of life has shown that it wasn’t the best. 

When that happens, is it seen as a failure?
I would never consider it a failure, because it was a solution that was probably thought to be the best. In everyday life, you can’t predict everything.  And sometimes you predict wrongly. What you need is the ability to correct when you realise you’ve made a mistake, but never the feeling of frustration because, at the time, it was the best solution. And then you have to separate the responsibility between the material legislator and the person who approves it, but you also have to avoid being a coward and saying «I wasn’t there». You have to realise that the law must always be understood from a constantly dynamic reality. What is the best solution today could be the worst solution tomorrow. Law has to keep up with a complex, living, dynamic and dialectical reality. 

Your life is all about laws, responsibility and a great deal of expertise. Did you ever envisage becoming known for the career path you’ve carved out for yourself?
Nothing happens by chance. There’s always an investment to be made. There are many hours of work, many hours of investment, many hours of legal research. There are no Saturdays, no Sundays, no public holidays. It’s a lot of work, nothing falls from the sky. I would say that knowledge and science, and in this case legal science, is one of those places where there are no tricks. As a professional, as a human being, there are three areas in which I have so far made a name for myself. I’ve held various positions of political and public responsibility, at the highest level, and this gives me a lot of recognition. Another part of my career, which I have never relinquished, is my work as a professor. I started out as a tutor and worked my way up to full professor of law. And although I’m still at university, I also work as a consultant and investor. In other words, I’m involved in these three facets of life, although I’m no longer politically responsible. I’ve been out of public office for 11 years. I’ve always tried to invest in knowledge, I’ve tried to find competitive factors that make me different, a kind of obsession with success too.

When it comes to investments, what areas are we talking about?
I focus on the financial and industrial sectors.  

What has marked you the most: your political career, your career as a professor, your career as a legislator or your career as a lawyer?
All of them have affected me. But the one that really stands out is my career as a university professor. Because that’s where I think I’ve been most productive. In politics, you can be proud of what you’ve done well and feel sad about what you haven’t managed to achieve. The teaching/legal career is much more enjoyable. Firstly, because you have greater intellectual independence; secondly, it’s by investing and working in education that you really see that you’ve done something for the future. That’s where you can see that today’s student has become a lawyer, a judge, a minister, a successful businessman. That’s where I see that I’ve done something useful after all.  

How long have you been teaching?
I began my teaching career as a university tutor in 1985. I was still studying, I think I was in my third year, and I was invited to be a tutor for one of the subjects. So, I started my career there as a tutor; then I went on to become a trainee teaching assistant; then an assistant professor; then an associate professor; and finally a full professor.

What message would you like to give your students today?
The first message is that success doesn’t fall from the sky, success without work only exists in the dictionary. The other is to constantly invest in training so that you can be competitively distinctive, especially today when competition is more global.


«The Bar Association needs to establish itself as a strong institution in Angola»

You are part of Angola’s history. How would you like to be remembered one day?
I wouldn’t like to be remembered; in essence, I am remembered today for the recognition, above all, of my academic career. When I meet a student and they say to me: «You were my professor; maybe you don’t remember me, but your teaching was crucial for me to get here,» that’s how I want to be remembered. In a single sentence, I would like to be remembered as a person who helped to train people who succeeded in life. 

You have published several scientific works. What is left to be written?
When you’re a full professor of law, or a professor in another field, your first obligation is to publish scientific works. I try to publish a work of scientific importance every year. Last year I published four; this year I’m finishing a book on the General Theory of Administrative Procedure, and I’m working on another on the non-contractual liability of the state, which is finished, but won’t be published this year.  

Would a biography still need to be published?
I don’t know if a political biography or a biography about my life. I’m under pressure to publish a biography. These are the two perspectives. I don’t know what I’m going to do. 

What is the word that defines you?
Obsessed (with success). 

You turned 60 this year, what are your medium-term plans?
Mainly two: in terms of my academic career, to go further and, on a personal level, to increasingly invest in finance and industry.  

Never stop?
It’s difficult. I’m not tired enough to rest (he laughs). 

Have you always managed to balance your personal and work life?
Always. But my personal life has always suffered more.  

What’s your hobby?
My hobby is listening to music. 

What kind of music?
All kinds. But the most memorable songs are Angolan Semba songs. 

Are the lyrics more striking?
Yes, songs by Paulo Flores, Yola Semedo, Yuri da Cunha. Then there’s another type of music, which isn’t Semba, but is close to it, which is by Prodígio, who has an incredible ability to write songs that reflect reality and everyday life. 

Do you do any sport?
I play tennis. At the weekends. For about 12 years now. A way to decompress, to distract.

What books have affected you?
I cannot count the law books. But, I read a bit of everything, such as biographies. Right now, I’m reading Personality and Power. It’s a book that explains how great political personalities, voluntarily or involuntarily, planned or unplanned, determine history. For example, Napoleon, did he plan to be part of history or was it events that made him? 

If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you like to be?
Oh, I don’t know. I’d be a sociologist and a philosopher. A philosopher, because it’s a form of speculation on life that’s worth investing in. It’s such a constructed, logical, systematised way of thinking – not that law isn’t –, that it becomes a life manual. 

Have any of your children followed in your footsteps?
My eldest daughter is a lawyer in Portugal.