Disposal of street crime cases within three days - Chief Justice

The courts will fast-track and dispose off street crime cases within three days for those accused who had pleaded guilty and two weeks for the cases to be tried.

Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria said previously the disposal of such cases where the accused persons had admitted to the crime involved would take between one to three months.

The judiciary had discussed with the Attorney-General's Chambers to issue a practice direction to fast-track disposal of street crime cases to all Session Court judges and magistrates who were handling the cases, he said.

"Among the street crime cases are snatch thefts and robbery. Eventhough the disposal of this cases is swift, the accused have the right to be represented by a legal practitioner of his or her choice, subject to the Federal Constitution of Article 5(3)," he said in his speech at the oath-taking ceremony for five judicial commissioners at the Palace of Justice, here today.

Arifin said the lawyers appointed should be prepared to continue handling the cases as scheduled and if the lawyers could not attend the trial fixed, the accused were allowed to consult other lawyers from the National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK).

He said statistics from the police revealed that 19,299 street crime cases were reported last year, and that 80 per cent of the accused had pleaded guilty to the offences.