06 Feb 2019

The Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has registered improved turnaround times in the conclusion of criminal cases, says Attorney General Advocate Abraham Keetshabe.

Speaking at the official opening of 2019 Legal Year sitting on Tuesday, Advocate Keetshabe attributed the improvement to the  introduction of specialised units, prosecutor-guided investigation as well as focused specialised training of prosecutors.

Regarding bail, he acknowledged that granting it continued to be a thorn in the flesh.

He said in dealing with the bail issue, the judiciary needed to see “both the trees and the forest,” meaning they should be able to see the whole picture.

Advocate Keetshabe expressed concern about the increasing scourge of gender based violence, which he said was traceable to the breakdown of societal values.

He said while the law appeared to adequately respond to gender based violence, the judiciary was equally concerned at the increasing number of such cases being withdrawn by complainants or victims of such incidents.

He further decried the noticeable trend of money laundering involving large sums of cash and expensive property.

DPP has since set up the Asset Forfeiture Unit to deal with the issue, he said.

Advocate Keetshabe asserted that efforts to confront  sophisticated types of crime would be enhanced by cooperation strategies with international prosecuting authorities as well as conclusion of extradition trieties.
 

Mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, he said, was with the  view to formalising the assistance to be granted in efforts to combat crime and recover such property  before proceeds dissipated.

On another issue, Advocate Keetshabe said in order to reduce murder cases and to deter would-be murderes, it was important that cases be tried within a shorter time.

He urged Chief Justice Terrence Rannowane to consider reintroducing circuit courts at least once a year arguing that trying in the community meant that more people were able to attend and follow as well as  witness court proceedings.

Meanwhile, he said over the past legal year, the Attorney General’s Chambers had been  active, both in drafting amendments to a number of pieces of legislation and in coming up with new legislation in relation to areas of law prioritised by government.

Numerous pieces of legislation were passed in 2018 to ease doing business and to facilitate the reforms identified in the Doing Business Reforms Roadmap, he said.

Among the bills passed by Parliament last year were the Companies (Amendment) Act, Compaies Registration Act, Registration of Business Names Act, said Advocate Keetshabe. Ends