Solution for problem oflack of space remains

Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdullah Mohamed (Judge Abdullah) has said that despite the efforts to address the problem of lack of space for Criminal Court by informing the relevant institutions, a solution to this issue still remains ‘a question’.

Speaking at a function held last night to mark the anniversary of Criminal Court, Judge Abdullah said that the second floor of Justice Building is not suitable to hold criminal proceedings.

He said that the court often receives complaints of missing evidence, and of crimes not being proven against suspects; and that these issues can only be solved by finding a solution to the problem of lack of space.

“The cases filed to court become more serious by the day, and the number of defendants is also increasing. A case can be filed to court against over 87 people. The 87 people, their lawyers, witnesses, observers, state media, private media – all these parties have to be present here in this location [second floor of Justice Building]. This is the biggest room of the court. The space is not sufficient even when half of the employees are absent. So we have to accept the fact that the current situation of the Criminal Court is not suitable for criminal case proceedings. I would like to bring this to the attention of the senior officials of the Judiciary, and inform that it is their responsibility to find a solution,” he said.

Judge Abdullah said that shortage of judges is another problem faced by Criminal Court, and that only six judges have been employed at the court since it was established in 1997.

He informed that at the end of 2010 the court had 1,765 pending cases, and at the end of 2011, it had 1,462 pending cases.

Highlighting that with the new Constitution, the Police need the cooperation of the courts to carry out their duties, the Chief Judge said that last year, 10,416 suspects were produced in court, out of which the court ruled to detain all except 8,271 suspects.

He also said that the Police produced 884 suspects for extension of detention period following arrests, out of which the court issued detention orders for 871 suspects, and release orders for 13 suspects.

He noted that because the employees and judges of Criminal Court are more exposed to risk than employees of other courts, a risk allowance has been requested for them; however to this day, this request has not received any positive response.