{"id":110628,"date":"2026-01-10T16:06:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T16:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=110628"},"modified":"2026-01-10T16:06:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T16:06:32","slug":"criminal-trials-are-judiciary-controlled-process-ag-defends-pace-of-prosecutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=110628","title":{"rendered":"Criminal trials are judiciary-controlled process \u2013 AG defends pace of prosecutions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 16 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, says that prosecution of criminal trials is largely controlled by the judiciary and not solely by the prosecuting authorities.<\/p>\n

Speaking on JoyNews\u2019<\/strong> Newsfile<\/em> on Saturday, January 10, Dr Ayine said he remains unable to proceed to court over matters relating to the National Cathedral project until he receives a forensic audit report, which he described as critical to any potential prosecution.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd even the National Cathedral, for instance, I am still waiting for the forensic report. I cannot proceed to court on the National Cathedral unless the forensic report is given to me,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

His comments come after former Auditor-General Daniel Domelevo stated that the credibility of the anti-corruption fight now rests largely on how the Attorney-General handles high-profile cases submitted under the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative.<\/p>\n

Dr Ayine expressed surprise at criticisms from some individuals, including the former Auditor-General, who has called for quicker action on high-profile cases.<\/p>\n

He argued that such criticisms often overlook the realities of criminal litigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor people like Domelevo, I am a bit surprised that they know that even when I have filed a case in court, the speed of the case does not depend exclusively on me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Attorney-General explained that once a matter enters the courts, the conduct and pace of proceedings fall under the authority of the judiciary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we have to understand is that, first of all, a criminal trial is a judiciary-controlled process,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

To illustrate his point, Dr Ayine cited the issue of adjournments, which are at the discretion of the presiding judge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a judge says, \u2018I am giving an adjournment of one month or two months\u2019, and I plead with the judge or my lawyers plead with the judge to give a shorter adjournment and the judge refuses, what do I do in that case?\u201d he asked. \u201cI cannot compel the judge to give a shorter adjournment.\u201d<\/p>\n

While acknowledging public demands for swift justice, Dr Ayine said he is committed to expediting cases where possible, but cautioned against rushing prosecutions at the expense of thoroughness and legal soundness.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so if people like him say I should speed up, yes, I will speed up,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t want to speed up and then trip along the line, and the same people will say, \u2018well, Ayine didn\u2019t do his work well; that is why he is tripping.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Attorney-General stressed that his approach is guided by the need to build strong, defensible cases that can withstand judicial scrutiny, particularly in complex and high-profile matters such as the National Cathedral project.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"CriminalThe Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, has defended the pace of ongoing and anticipated prosecutions, insisting that criminal trials are largely controlled by the judiciary and not solely by the prosecuting authorities.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15168,1509,1969,1883,14273,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-criminal-trials","category-dominic-ayine","category-hp-news-3","category-national","category-national-cathderal","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110628\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}