The Deputy Attorney-General, Srem-Sai, has announced that the Office of the Attorney-General will comply with a High Court directive ordering it to take over prosecutions currently being handled by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
The order stems from a case filed by an accused person, Peter Archibald Hyde, who challenged the authority of the OSP to prosecute without explicit authorisation from the Attorney-General.
According to the Deputy Attorney-General, the applicant argued that both the Constitution and the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act require the OSP to obtain approval from the Attorney-General before initiating or conducting prosecutions.
Court records indicated that the OSP was unable to demonstrate that it had secured such authorisation, prompting the High Court to rule on Wednesday, April 15 that all ongoing prosecutions by the OSP be handed over to the Attorney-General until the necessary constitutional requirements are met.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, April 16, Justice Srem Sai, stressed that the Attorney-General will fully comply with the court’s ruling, stating unequivocally that “the Honourable Attorney-General has no intention or capacity to disobey or ignore the High Court’s order.”
He disclosed that arrangements are already underway for the Office of the Attorney-General to assume responsibility for the affected cases in the coming days.
“The Office of the Attorney-General will, in the coming days, begin to take the necessary steps to give effect to the Court’s order,” he stated.
The development marks a significant turn in the ongoing legal debate over the prosecutorial powers of the OSP, as the ruling is expected to be challenged by the OSP at the Supreme Court.
