President Dr Mohamed Muizzu announced today that work will commence this year to construct a Superior Courts Complex in Hulhumale', which is aimed at addressing space constraints faced by courts.
At the Presidential Address delivered in parliament today, the President noted that the government places high priority on providing a solution for the issue of space constraints raised by the Courts. He announced some measures the government has decided to take to address this.
The President said that one of the major issues in criminal justice at present is the long delays in trial proceedings.
"It is vital at this time to expedite cases and bring cases to swift resolutions. The government places high importance on resolving space constraints faced by courts so as to address this issue," he said.
As such, the government will commence the construction of a Superior Court Complex in Hulhumale' this year.
While this is so, the President noted the importance of temporarily relocating the Criminal Court and Drug Court to more spacious premises even until the Complex is completed. He said that the Covid Facility in Hulhumale' is now being repurposed to be used by these courts.
The President said that preparations for the courts to commence work in these premises will be completed ahead of August.
President Muizzu said that doing so would facilitate bringing to an end the extended remand in custody of persons through faster resolution of their cases.
Conditional cautioning in minor cases to be strengthened
In order to decrease the number of active cases, the government is working on strengthening procedures around conditional cautioning instead of pressing charges.
The President said that in order to encourage people accused of minor crimes to refrain from such activity, he believes it is important to end the cases through providing advice to the accused, rather than pressing charges against them.
He said that in order to strengthen the process, a special training will be provided to prosecutors and defence lawyers.
Article 97 of the Criminal Procedure Code states, "For the purpose of encouraging to refrain from reoffending, provide a second chance, reintegrate them back in society, and encourage to adopt a better lifestyle, Prosecutor General may conclude cases of minor offences for which accused pleas guilty during the investigation stage, by conditional cautioning instead of filing a charge".
In the instance that a further offence is recorded in the intervening period, then charges for the previous and present offence can be sent to court.
The President maintains that if conditional cautioning is practiced under a robust system, the number of cases forwarded to Courts will significantly decrease.
He stated that in independent democratic systems, court cases are decreased through strengthening conditional cautioning and plea bargains. Expanding the courts or increasing judges would not present a solution until these two options are further strengthened, he said.
Hence, the government aims to strengthen the systems for providing conditional cautioning and plea bargains, he said.