Cabinet approval has been granted for the Legal Draftsman to prepare the Criminal Procedure Code (Special Provisions) Draft Bill to ensure relief for certain persons accused of a crime.
According to the government, the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act No. 25 of 2024 was passed in Parliament in May 2024 so that judges can consider the period an accused spends in remand prison as a penalty before being convicted of the offence he/she is accused of.
However, it has been recognized that there should be a mechanism to consider the period in the remand prison until the decision or the appeal decision is given since those who were declared guilty before passing the amended act are not entitled to relief under the amended act.
Accordingly, the Cabinet approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Justice to issue directions to the Legal Draftsmen to prepare a bill to introduce a law of special provisions to implement powers entrusted with the President under Statute 34 of the Constitution so that necessary actions may be taken concerning such criminals. (Newswire)