Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 07, 2013 News
– “Prosecution continues to provide ridiculous excuses to hide incompetence…” says Magistrate
Over the past three weeks, numerous cases have been thrown out by Sparendaam Magistrate Alex Moore. Why? According to the Prosecution, “I don’t know where the case files are and I need more time for statements to be filed.”
The aforementioned comment is just one of the “ridiculous excuses” put forward by the Prosecution. Most of the cases are without statements after some of them would have been filed about four to five months ago.
Senior lawyers, victims, witnesses and those accused of the crimes, are complaining about the “sloppy work” being done by the Prosecution. Many said that “it is a waste of time. It shows no respect for our time as well. Some of us have to travel all the way from villages over the river just to hear that the case is going to be adjourned until a later date because the Prosecution can’t find the file or has been unable to file statements. This is nonsense man,” explained one of the concerned victims.
It is even more appalling that some of the cases that have been filed eight months ago are still without statements and the Prosecution is unable to provide plausible reasons to justify such.
Magistrate Alex Moore is heard on several occasions, relating his frustrations in open court as it relates to the amount of times cases are adjourned, only to hear on the fourth or fifth adjournment that the statements have not been filed or the case file cannot be found.
One example of note is that of a paper committal for a murder case. After six adjournments, the defendant who was in custody for over a year was discharged after the Prosecution failed to inform one of the witnesses that he was needed for cross examination.
The Prosecutor’s excuse for this state of “unpreparedness” was unsatisfactory, according to the Magistrate. He proceeded to update the Prosecution on its “sorely outdated information” presented as an excuse for the witness not being in court at the time.
The Prosecution continues to stress that the bulk of the blame should not be placed on them but rather on the investigating ranks who fail at times to carry out instructions and thus leave most of the work on them.
They added that the fact that they are unaware of where the case files are is also partly the fault of the investigating ranks as well.
However, in reply to the Prosecution’s line of defence, Magistrate Moore explained that, “there seems to be a misconception about the responsibility of files. Not being in possession of a file is no excuse. It clearly shows a breakdown in decorum, propriety and procedure. It is simply blatant disrespect.”
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