Lawyer wants criminal proceedings to continue with restricted access

To ensure continued access to justice during the extended movement control order (MCO), criminal proceedings should be continued with restricted access, says prominent lawyer N Sivananthan.

He said the authorities should allow criminal courts to operate by allowing only relevant parties such as the judge, prosecutor, lawyer and the accused person to be present.

“Criminal courts should be allowed to function not only for matters involving remand, fresh charges, bail and revision applications but also for matters involving appeals and miscellaneous applications because there is no need for anyone apart from the prosecutor, lawyer and the accused person to be present. No witness needs to be present.

“For habeas corpus applications involving individuals detained without trial, the presence of the accused is dispensed with so even fewer people are involved. Case management before the registrar and the judge can be done online to further reduce the number of people in court,” Sivananthan (photo) said.

For example, he said, many people were arrested on suspicion of drug use and most could not pay bail, and their cases were being postponed for long periods as they cannot even plead guilty because the chemist reports cannot be provided. - Bernama

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