Criminal court reform to propose one-year limit to pre-trial proceedings
A proposed overhaul of the criminal court system sets a one-year limit on pre-trial proceedings, doing away with an antiquated referrals procedure and setting new time frames for criminal cases.
The reform was first proposed in the last legislature and, after months of fine-tuning, it is set to be presented in parliament shortly, possibly before the summer recess.
Government sources said it seeks to drastically shorten lengthy pre-trial proceedings in criminal cases, which, for years, have been maligned as far too slow as those accused of criminal offences can spend years attending court sittings before even reaching a trial.
Lawmakers are proposing shortening what is known as the compilation of evidence stage in criminal proceedings. During this pretrial stage, the prosecution presents all its evidence before a magistrate.
Although this is not the final trial of the accused, defence counsel and even lawyers representing victims can ask questions of witnesses and can also file applications with specific requests that can further delay the process.
The reform seeks to introduce specific time limits as to how long the prosecution and defence can take to present evidence and...