Certified copies of final judgments to be made available for free

The Government is taking measures to draft laws to enable certified copies of final judgments in criminal cases to be made available to the prosecution and the defence for free.

This decision was taken after the Justice Ministry observed that many parties in such cases did not have money to pay to obtain certified copies of these judgments. At present, all certified copies of judgments must be obtained via payment. The only exceptions are made for the Attorney General’s Department and court proceedings.

Steps are being taken to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure Act No. 15 of 1979 to make such certified copies available to all parties for free.

As part of these amendments, parties in cases will also be able to obtain certified copies of other documents relating to a trial after paying a fee. The power to levy fees for this purpose will be removed from the Finance Ministry and vested with the Justice Ministry. Accordingly, the Justice Ministry or Justice Ministry Secretary will be vested with power to levy fees. The fee structure will be published via gazette.