Government resists plan to extend court appeal time from week to month
TDT | Manama
Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com
A draft law before Parliament would give defendants 30 days to object to criminal orders issued by the Minor Court, up from the current seven.
The government is urging MPs to reconsider.
The change would amend Article 277 of the 2002 Criminal Procedure law. Public prosecutors would have 30 days from the date the order is issued.
Other parties would have 30 days from the date they are notified.
If an objection is filed at the court registry, the criminal order is set aside and the case proceeds under the usual procedure, as though the order had not been issued.
In its written memorandum accompanying the bill, the government argues that the criminal order system is meant to be a summary route for minor cases, handled without a hearing unless an objection is submitted within the deadline.
It says seven days is sufficient because an objection does not need reasons or legal argument.
A simple request to contest the order and have the case heard is enough.
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