Prosecutors must not sit on case files – Justice Jallow warns

Justice Jallow was speaking on behalf of the Chief Justice at the closing event of a five-day training workshop for the justice sector at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara Conference Centre.

He stated that a timely review of case files followed by diligent prosecution is immeasurable in its importance when prosecutors lay charges against a suspect. “It becomes the duty of the court to ensure the proper management of the cases, which include the diligent prosecution of the accused person or defendant. An undue delay may constitute an abdication of responsibility.”

“Few years ago the chief justice requested from the prison service a list of remanded prisoners and the duration of their detention. What he received was shocking on any human rights platform. Upward of thirty remand prisoners had spent time in remand for months and, in some cases, for years without prosecution, in fact in some cases a remand prisoner had been held in remand without trial for more than seven years,” Jallow stated.

Jallow further said that in the case of an arrest of a suspect who is denied bail, the urgency doubles or triples for the investigation to be carried out timorously.

Justice Jallow reaffirmed that it is an abuse of State Authority for a person to be kept in remand for an inordinate period while investigators take longer than necessary time to complete their investigation.

“We must always remember that a suspect remains a suspect until he or she is convicted or acquitted and discharged. All rights are important; that of the victim and that of the suspect. It is equally in the interest of a victim that his or her complaint is dealt with in a timely manner.”