Prosecutor General hails reduced time for charges in criminal matters

During the first six months of 2020, the Prosecutor General’s Office has reduced the average time period taken to bring forward charges in criminal cases.

PG Hussain Shameem said that the average period for charges to be brought forward in criminal matters was reduced with the collective work of Police investigators and the PG office. 

Statistics shared by the PG show that on average, charges were brought forward in criminal matters within 87.7 days of commission in 2019.

The statistics shared for 2020 show that the time period was reduced to 47.45 days within the first six months of 2020 regarding serious criminal matters.

With diligent and focused work from @PoliceMv investigators & @PGO_MV staff, we've brought down avg time from crime date to charge, from 87.70 days in 2019, to 47.45 in 2020 (until end of May) (serious crimes as per sec.22 of CRPC). Good outcome in first six months. more to do. pic.twitter.com/atugjSkDNu

— Hussain Shameem (@HuShameem) June 8, 2020

Most cases were submitted to courts of Thursdays and charges were brought against a total of 82 individuals in serious criminal cases last year. Around 47.56 percent of cases were submitted to courts on Thursdays.

After the appointment of Shameem as the PG, days on which cases were submitted to courts varied. In the first six months of 2020, only 25.76 percent of cases submitted to courts were on Thursdays. A total of 66 people were charged with severe criminal offenses in this time period.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih appointed Hussain Shameem as the Prosecutor General on December 8, 2019. Shameem succeeded Aishath Bishaam who was in the role previously.