In this year's Ceremonial Opening of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin told the nation that the Magistracy Department would have a complete overhaul with the roll out of a new Criminal Procedure Rules.
It's a document in the making for a number of months, and we've been informed that it has since been rolled out since the second half of January 2016. It's an extensive document which will bring sweeping changes to the way the court handles criminal cases, and if it is followed strictly, there will be a marked difference in the resolution of criminal trials in the lower courts.
It introduces the electronic recording of trials for transcript and transparency, and for the filing of documents from attorneys electronically.
It considerably shortens the number of adjournments that a case can have, which is usually misused either by the police or the defense attorneys, and causes cases to drag on for years.
One such change requires that in cases, the first hearing must take place within 28 days of the first summons. The case files that police investigators handle must be handed over 4 weeks from the date of the first hearing, and disclosure must be given within 8 weeks. This is the document which the prosecution is required to hand over to the defendants to indicate to them exactly what they're accused of and what evidence the prosecution intends to use to get a conviction against them. Often times, when the magistrates are prepared to conduct a trial, the police prosecutor comes to court saying that he either doesn't have the investigation file, or that they've been unable to provide disclosure to the defense.
What usually happens is that the police prosecutors may be able to abuse that indulgence from the court, and cases get adjourned for long periods of time.
The document has identified those issues and many others like it, and it has sought to end that type of problem by requiring accountability of all involved in the progress of justice at the Magistrate's Court.
Email
Print