NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 24 – The Office of the Director of Public Prosecution has enhanced its digital operations by launching a Decision to Charge Mobile Application (App).
The initiative supported by the International Justice Mission (IJM) is meant to complement the Uadilifu Case Management System.
The platform will allow prosecutors to fill in the DTC forms online and offline from any location.
Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji said Thursday, November 24 this is in line with the ODPP’s strategy of reshaping and enhancing organizational effectiveness through the adoption of technology.
The DTC 2019 is a policy document by the ODPP and constitutes the emerging trend of norm generation by the ODPP in the criminal justice enterprise.
DTC has crystallized into a norm of practice within the ODPP replacing its predecessor, the National Prosecution Guidelines.
The DTC Guidelines contain a series of tests and decisions that prosecutors make and consider when handling criminal cases. In this pursuit, a prosecutor ought to adhere to two salient processes, that is, the Two-Stage Test and the Threshold Test.
The policy is acclaimed as a document that equips prosecutors with independence and allows them to objectively exercise their role as prosecutors.
It will ensure ODPP prosecutors consistently apply evidential and public interest tests when making the decision to charge. This will prevent criminal proceedings from being instituted in cases with insufficient evidence, thus significantly reducing the backlog of cases in the criminal justice system.
The guidelines cover the conduct of prosecutors, their powers, roles and duties in relation to guiding investigations and making the decision to charge, the independence of the prosecutor in making the decision to charge, duties of disclosure, continuing review and general guidance on discontinuance, plea bargaining, diversion, appeal and revision.
In appreciating that poor decision-making can have profound consequences for accused persons, victims, witnesses and the Kenyan public, these guidelines are specially aimed at equipping prosecutors to independently and objectively exercise their role as gatekeepers to the criminal justice system.
Haji said the ODPP is a critical link in the justice chain as the Constitution delegates immense authority to prosecutors.
The reasoned exercise of prosecutorial discretion is essential to the fair, independent, and accountable administration of justice.
He said the decision about whether to initiate charges, the charges to pursue when to accept a negotiated plea and what to advocate at sentencing is the most fundamental duties of prosecutors.
“We acknowledge that such authority must be accompanied by great responsibility.”
And in the exercise of this authority, it is important that prosecutors follow processes and steps that ensure consistency, transparency and accountability, he added.
He said when these processes are applied equally and fairly, the result is not only a more efficient and effective system but also an increase in public confidence necessary in the administration of the criminal justice system.
The DTC is the most significant decision a prosecutor makes in the handling of criminal cases.
The power to charge entails considerable discretion on the part of the prosecutor and the decision must, therefore, be founded in law, serve the public interest, engrain fair administration of justice and avoid abuse of the legal process.
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