PG facilitates quicker domestic violence protection orders
The portal will also allow victims to communicate securely with the Prosecutor's Office.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem said on Saturday that the application process for a domestic violence protection order has been made easier and the victim does not need to be present in court to submit the application.
This is what Shameem wrote in an article on his blog. According to the article, one of the goals of the Prosecutor's Office this year is to improve the care provided by public agencies to victims of crime and create a world-class victim support service.
On December 4, a workshop was conducted involving all relevant authorities to discuss what could be done to further strengthen the sector, he said. He said this year was about implementing the decisions taken at the workshop.
The implementation measures include:
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The application form for a domestic violence protection order can now be easily submitted at the Prosecutor's Office website
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Victims, who are not able to follow the progress of their cases can now do so through the online portal of the Prosecutor's Office
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The portal will also allow victims to communicate securely with the Prosecutor's Office
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The details of the legal remedies available to victims will now be available on the Prosecutor's Office website as well
The victim having to run in between courts with their forms, while threatened, will come to an end from now.
When applying for a domestic violence protection order, the biggest challenge such people face is the difficulty of filling out forms and going to court.
The Prosecutor's Office's online portal can now be used to fill out forms for domestic violence protection orders, under the PG’s directive to make the process easier for victims.
Shameem's blog provides guidelines on how to apply as well.
“The victim having to run in between courts with their forms, while threatened, will come to an end from now,” Shameem had written on his blog.
He said the prosecutor's office would not be privy to the information contained in the form even if the form was filled out through the office's portal. That information is secure, and only exchanged with the courts, he assured. The only thing the prosecutor’s office does is make it easier to fill out the form and facilitate the paths to justice.
"We believe that if all these collective efforts make a positive difference in the lives of a single domestic abuse survivor, the money and time we put into it have been worth it. No matter what happens in the country, it is our mission to establish a system that provides a unique, world-class service to victims through the criminal justice system," Shameem concluded his article.
While the process of filing domestic violence protection forms has been simplified, last month, the previously collected MVR 25 fee at form submission was waived as well.
