| Hakim Hayat |
THE Criminal Justice Division of the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) has successfully organised an orientation session for law enforcement officers, focussing on how they can be effective in giving evidence in court.
The one-day session, aimed at law enforcement officers and personnel with little or no experience in giving evidence in court, took place in the Law and Courts Building in the capital.
The event was organised as part of the initiatives by the Criminal Justice Division to impart knowledge to the law enforcement community in an effort to increase the standards of efficiency and effectiveness of prosecutions in the country as well as to strengthen networking among Deputy Public Prosecutors and their law enforcement counterparts.
In her opening remarks, Acting Assistant Solicitor General Aldila binti Haji Mohd Salleh emphasised the important and crucial role that law enforcement officers play as witnesses in the court process “as the success or failure of any criminal prosecution is contingent on the quality of evidence provided by them as witnesses”.
She stressed that law enforcement officers must be credible and convincing in giving evidence to ensure justice is served. Officers and personnel were reminded that mistakes when giving evidence during a trial may adversely affect a prosecution causing a criminal to walk free.
The Acting Assistant Solicitor General also focussed on the need for those in law enforcement to be fair, impartial and honest in the constant discharge of their duties in line with the titah of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam delivered on the occasion of the 24th Civil Service Day celebration on November 22, 2017 in which His Majesty stated that “good public servants are those who serve honestly and sincerely, and not who are efficient but disloyal”.
The session also saw the launching of a Criminal Justice Division publication titled ‘Guide to Being a Witness in Court’ which has been issued in both Malay and English versions and are available for perusal at the AGC website at www.agc.gov.bn.
The session, which featured lectures by senior deputy public prosecutors on basic knowledge on giving evidence in court, also incorporated practical components such as demonstrations in a real-life court room to give added value to the participants’ training.
The workshop, which was organised in fulfilment of the AGC’s vision to be the highest quality legal service provider for His Majesty and the Government of His Majesty, concluded with the presentation of certificates to 50 participants from various law enforcement agencies.
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