The Government has laid the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations 2018 in Parliament.
This legal document is the legislative Instrument that will give effect and make the office of the Special Prosecutor functional.
[contextly_sidebar id=”AnDiQsg9IHXCYW09boAkgT1m1KxMFFXX”]The Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, laid the L.I on behalf of the Attorney General who had been initially scheduled to present the L.I. before Parliament.
The Subsidiary Legislation Committee is now expected to consider it after a referral from the Speaker of Parliament.
The L.I. will set out the procedure for reporting corruption to the Special Prosecutor and how corruption-related cases should be handled.
The Attorney General was initially expected to lay the L.I. last Wednesday according to the provisional order paper for the day.
Concerns with legislation
The 2019 budget statement allayed the concerns observers had with respect to funding of the Special Prosecutor.
GHc 180 million was allocated to the Office of the Special Prosecutor ahead of 2019.
In the months following the setting up of the Special Prosecutor office, the lack of resources was a major complaint, but Martin Amidu, the Special Prosecutor, was very vocal about the lack of legislation for his office.
He said he was just using his common sense to run the office.
“I am saying this for the public to understand that we have set up an office. We have to organize that office, have the requisite personnel. It does not take one day. The law says 90 days after the assumption of office of the Special Prosecutor, pursuant legislation must be enacted, but as I speak today, I have no legislation so I use my common sense,” Mr. Amidu said in September.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has been tasked to investigate and prosecute certain categories of cases, including those involving alleged violations of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) and cases implicating public officers and politically-exposed persons.
The office has also be mandated to trace and recover the proceeds of corruption.
The Special Prosecutor’s office is expected to be independent of the Executive, which observers believe will allow it to adequately deal with corruption-related issues which have plagued governance.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill, which was passed in November 2017, defines the modalities for the appointment and operations of the Special Prosecutor Office.
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By: Duke Mensah Opoku | citinewsroom.com | Ghana