Criminal Court to be relocated

Criminal Court will soon be relocated at the building which previously housed the State Trading Organization (STO), says the Department of Judicial Administration.

Latheefa Qasim, Spokesperson for the Judiciary said today that the building, which is located near Theemuge and the Local Market, is now under repair and soon be ready for use as the new premises of the Criminal Court.

Latheefa said that the new building would be a satisfactory solution to the problem of lack of space that has severely curtailed the operations of Criminal Court. The new building has four floors as opposed to the one floor now used by the Criminal Court at the Justice Building.

According to Latheefa, the new building was acquired by the Department of Judicial Administration during last August.

Ahmed Mohamed Manik, Criminal Court Media Officer, said that he was not aware of the new building. However, he commented on the problem of lack of space at the Criminal Court. He noted that the courtrooms are too small and that shortage of toilet facilities meant that visitors and defendants present at the premises all have to use the same toilet. He also said that lack of space forced defendants to sometimes be taken into or through the staff quarters of the Court, where incidents such as defendants spitting or verbally threatening the staff were not infrequent.