PG raises concerns regarding Criminal Court

Prosecutor General (PG) Aishath Bisham has said that state prosecutors are facing difficulties due to some issues at the Criminal Court.

Speaking at the session with the Prosecutor General’s Office at the Judge’s Forum, when asked what was the challenges that are facing the PG Office, PG Bisham said that some times, more than one case are scheduled at one section and the notification on which cases are cancelled are not sent. The PG said that due to this, the state prosecutors, sometimes, does not know which case to be prepared for.

The PG said that cases are put under judges that are no longer with the Criminal Court and so the PG Office does not know which judge would be presiding over the case. PG Bisham requested the Criminal Court to resolve those issues.

As a solution to the cancelling of scheduled hearings, PG Bisham requested to confirm that witnesses will be attending before scheduling.

The PG assured all the courts that if a hearing has been scheduled, the PG Office will be attending the hearing.

“Whenever the cases are scheduled, our lawyers would travel and go (attend). That guarantee I want to give.” PG Bisham said.

PG Office said that when scheduling cases in the islands, back to back scheduling would minimize the cost of the journey.