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Oct 23, 2018 Letters
DEAR EDITOR,
I have been following the developments in the Courts with regard to criminal cases involving some former ministers and officials of the former PPP/C Government administration.
Against the background of some recent acquittals, there has to be concern with the prosecutorial capacity of the state to effect convictions against those accused of crimes against the state. This state of affairs is not due to a lack of evidence, since the audit findings would have been supported by in-depth police investigation which would have resulted in charges being laid. It would seem that there is a problem with the state prosecutors not being au fait with the particular sections of the law which ought to support the intended charges. This was clearly the case when a former minister and former senior personnel of the same ministry, were acquitted because of being arraigned under the incorrect law. One cannot fault the Court’s decision, since the case must suit the law; however, one is entitled to query as to whether such a defect was not observed from the onset, and the necessary advice given. Why was this very important matter that would have cost the state millions of dollars, allowed to proceed through a trial, only to be advised by the presiding officer, at the end, that the charges were bad in law?
One accepts the fact that our judicial system is being challenged by a particular category of offences which it is engaging for the first time. It explains why there have been so many seminars and training engagements convened for the entire judiciary, so as to bring about a better cognizance on the part of judicial officers, as to what is required.
Yet, it has to be recognised that in such critical legal matters that involve former high ranking officials, there should be a calibre of legal prosecutors whose knowledge and expertise of the law should be evident, bringing it to bear on proceedings. This has to be a requirement.
The State cannot afford any more of these “lapses”. As a government that has commenced to re-fashion a society on good morals and respect for the law, this must not be allowed to be the understanding of what this new dispensation represents.I do believe in the justness of the state’s taking condign action against those who steal its resources in any form. But its efforts must be supported by a more alert, robust, and aggressive prosecutorial system.
Regards
Dillon Goring
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