27 Jun 2018

Records have revealed that there are 8 173 criminal cases and dockets held by the Directorate Of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Minister of Defence, Justice and  Security, Mr Shaw Kgati informed Parliament on June 26 that this reflected a significant drop in the number of cases currently being handled by the DPP when compared to a few years ago, when the DPP had over 14 000 criminal cases at their disposal.

Responding to a parliamentary question by Nkange MP Mr Edwin Batshu, the minister said in addition to the number, 145 Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition matters were also being processed by DPP.

Mr Kgati said there were also 14 Restraint and Forfeiture matters under the Proceeds and Instruments of Crime Act currently being handled by the DPP.

“Out of the current 8 173 criminal matters, 5 383 are cases registered before various courts while 2 631 are dockets received from law enforcement agencies that are currently being assessed for prosecution or otherwise,” he said.

The minister further said with respect to the age analysis of cases, the DPP has a performance standard of 18 months average case turnaround time.

“Matters registered in court that  are over 18 months are considered backlog since the current case disposal turnaround time is 18 months,” he noted.

He said there were currently 1 198 cases within the 18 months turnaround time while 4 185 were over 18 months.

He further said the performance standard for processing dockets was six months and those extending beyond the period were considered backlog.

“For the financial year 2017/18, 1 025 dockets were completed within six months while the remaining 1 506 had extended beyond the six months,” he said.   

Mr Kgathi further said during the same financial year, a total of 1 545 cases were concluded.

He told Parliament that DPP had established a backlog Eradication Task Team to fast-track backlog of all matters, saying the initiative was a collaborative effort with the administration of justice and other stakeholders.

MP Edwin Batshu had asked the minister to clarify the number of cases held by DPP for prosecution.

He also wanted to know how many were registered with the courts and how many were not.

Mr Batshu further wanted the minister to provide the house with a breakdown analysis of cases by age. ENDS