Public prosecutors return to courts

Public prosecutors have started to attend court again today, following an order by the Supreme Court on Monday.

Media Official at the Criminal Court Ahmed Mohamed Manik told Sun Online that lawyers of the Prosecutor General’s Office are attending hearings from 9:00 a.m. this morning.

Public prosecutors stopped attending hearings from 5 May, stating that they do no have the legal grounds to advocate in the absence of a Prosecutor General or his deputy, after Deputy Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem resigned on the same day.

Supreme Court on Monday ordered prosecutors of to attend hearings and the Prosecutor General’s Office to continue to file criminal lawsuits on behalf of the State, stating that in line with the concept of continuity of legal government, filing criminal lawsuits and making all arrangements related to those lawsuits must continue despite the absence of a Prosecutor General and a Deputy Prosecutor General.

In a democratic state governed, there are no legal grounds to justify the loss of people’s rights or disruption of order in the society. Continuity must be maintained, without disruptions, of the criminal justice system, in order to uphold the rule of law and protect the rights of the State and its people, Supreme Court said in its order on Monday.

The Supreme Court also issued an order in February directing the Criminal Court to continue criminal proceedings, after the court stopped accepting cases from the Prosecutor General’s Office, stating that the office did not have legal grounds to file suit in the absence of a Prosecutor General.