Bill on extending window for PGO to press charges to 15 days sent to Committee

The bill proposing an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code to extend the timeframe allowed for the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) to file charges in criminal cases to 15 days has been sent to Parliament’s Judiciary Committee.

In the vote taken at today’s parliamentary sitting on whether to forward the bill to the Committee or not; it was passed to send the bill to the Committee with the unanimous vote of 35 parliamentarians who were in attendance.

The bill submitted by Ihavadhoo MP Mohamed Shifaau, on behalf of the government, read that PGO must file charges within 15 days from the date on which a case is submitted to them.

At present, the law requires PGO to file charges within 10 days from the date on which a case is submitted to them.

Apart from this, the bill states that in cases involving major felonies, the PGO can request to have the remand of suspects extended up to 60 days, instead of the current 45 days, in order to carry out further investigations.

It also stipulates that suspects will be released should PGO fail to press charges within the allocated timeframe or if there is insufficient evidence to press charges. In releasing a suspect under such circumstances – the PGO must file for a travel ban order against the suspect if deemed necessary.

MP Shifau said the main purpose of the bill was to address challenges in executing the different procedures under the criminal justice system and enforcing the law. He also said that the amendment aims to detail the circumstances under which a plea deal can be reached and the procedure for signing plea deals.