for handling such a case is very low compared to what they get for private practicing.
Currently, a lawyer in private practice earns about more than MRf25000 (US$1621.27) per
case while the amount paid by the PGO is fixed and is about MRf5000 (US$324.25) per case.
107. Withholding information leads to obstruction to justice in criminal cases. Sometimes,
the prosecutors do not get all the documents and evidence related to the case, denying the
accused the opportunity of a fair trial. HRCM has learned that sometimes prosecutors have
to get a court order to acquire the missing documents. Similarly, lack of witness protection
programs and mechanisms contributes to the denial of justice in Maldives. Often witnesses
of a crime scene refuse to appear before the court to give their testimony for fear of
reprisal.
108. The State should expedite the swift passage of an efficient Witness Protection Act and
ensure that processes are set in place to enable swift and fair justice without
discrimination. An independent forensic laboratory for investigative purposes needs to be
established with full functional capacity.
Prosecution and Enforcement of Judgment
109. In the criminal justice system the decision to prosecute an accused is made by a judge
after a preliminary inquiry of the evidence provided by the responsible authority. Most of
the criminal cases are sent to the PGO by police and often cases sent by police are rejected
by the PGO on grounds of inadequate evidence. According to the Annual Statistical Report
2010 of Maldives Police Service, of the 1851 cases sent to prosecution 682 cases were
rejected and only 75 cases reached a verdict.
110. Like many developing countries, Maldives has a serious problem with the enforcement
of court judgments. Often the law enforcement authorities are unable to enforce the court
rulings for suspected reasons of political connections, corruption, mismanagement, etc.
According to Maldives Police Service in 2010 alone, 523 people were arrested more than
once on different criminal charges and investigated.43
Chapter: Article 14: Equality before the Law & Article 26: Legal Protection of the Law
106. There are many incidents where suspects of crimes, including those who were arrested
for murder, child abuse, rape, gang violence and smuggling drugs, have been released by
the court for not having enough evidence against the suspects. HRCM have been informed
that they had to release those suspects due to absence of enough evidence. Some lawyers
have expressed their concern over police not properly following the investigative process
and having no way of verifying the forensic evidence produced by Police. Some lawyers
raised questions about professionalism of police and its investigators.
46