Top court judge offers solution to trial delays
Under the existing Civil Procedure Code, there is no action taken for going against and defying a court judgement, this needs to be amended, Suood said.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
The issue of expediting trials and pre-trial detention cannot be solved by arranging a building for it alone, Supreme Court Justice Husnu Al Suood said on Thursday.
He said that changes should be made in the way cases are conducted in the courts.
The Judiciary Committee of the Parliament on Thursday held discussions with the relevant authorities on the issue of space constraints and delays in trials at courts. The meeting was attended by officials from the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA), Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and Criminal Court.
The Criminal Court has previously said that trials are delayed due to lack of space. Members at the session also raised questions about the concerns of many people being detained due to delays in trials and the solutions available.
Court space constraints are 50% of the reasons for delayed trials. The other 50% is something we judges can solve.
Husnu Al Suood, who is also a member of the JSC, said that the temporary building of the Criminal Court under construction in Hulhumale is expected to be completed by December this year, but that building solves problems only temporarily. He said the reason for this is:
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The building, which costs about MVR 35,000 million, is available for five years
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The court will not be able to use the ground floor of the building, so there are security management issues
The permanent solution to the space constraint is to get a permanent building for the judiciary, he said. However, he again impressed that this is not the only solution to the problems of delayed trials.
“We need to make changes in the way we look at the issue structurally. Otherwise, the problem will not be solved. It's not just about getting staff and facilities. The way the cases are handled [needs to be changed,],” Suood said.
Changes needed to be made to address the problem of delayed trials according to Suood are:
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Start looking at cases as part of a trial; the current practice is to hear a case today, and the next case of the same trial another six months later
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Amend the Courts Act to provide for an assistant to every judge or magistrate of the courts
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Amend the Code of Civil Procedure to place the mediation portion before the commencement of the case; there is no mediation section in the Civil Procedure Code
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The inclusion of the mediation component in the law will eliminate 60% of the current long standing cases on a daily basis
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Under the existing Civil Procedure Code, there is no action to be taken for going against and defying a court judgement; amend civil procedure to include measures
“Court space constraints are 50% of the reasons for delayed trials. The other 50% is something we judges can solve”, he said.
Prosecutor General (PG) Hussain Shameem also expressed concern over the delay in deciding cases submitted to the courts. Shameem also said that it could only be resolved by the courts.
He said it is difficult to prove cases due to the length of time the trial gets stretched at court.
