The Director of Public Prosecutions, Jane Frances Abodo has advised police to release on bond all suspects arrested for minor offences. This is part of the Standard Operating Procedures-SOPs for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution-DPP during the second wave of the Corona Virus pandemic.
According to Justice Abodo, they will only be handling serious criminal cases especially those that pose a threat to public order and harmony. Jacquelyn Okui, the Spokesperson of the DPP, says lists some of the minor cases as common assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, thefts involving items of low value and burglaries among others.
In a statement issued this morning, Justice Abodo, says that they will maintain 30 percent presence at all times within 42 days and officers must make sure that inquiries are done before sanctioning any charges in line with the presidential directives issued on June 6th 2021.
In order to observe the SOPs, Abodo also is discouraging all person to person interactions including internal and external meetings and instead of encouraging electronic communication. As such, the DPP has also indicated that their headquarters are closed to the public with the exception of the open registry.
The DPP’s statement comes days after the Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo issued a public circular guiding how courts should operate within the 42 days. In his circular, Owiny-Dollo suspended all court hearings and encouraged lawyers or parties to file written submissions for cases that are at the stage of submission, adding that only urgent cases are the ones that are going to be attended to in strict observation of SOPs.
