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New powers for CIABOC: Cases directly in High Court
The power to file cases of bribery and corruption directly in High Courts instead of Magistrate courts and allow the Attorney General to prosecute such cases is among a series of amendments proposed to expedite cases, a senior official said. Sarath Jayamanna, Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), told the Sunday Times that the Legal Draftsman was preparing the amendments.
The move follows discussions with President Maitrhipala Sirisena to strengthen the CIABOC and update laws to effectively carry out investigations and prosecutions. He said the proposed amendments would include provision to share information between investigating agencies, including the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), while maintaining confidentiality. The CIABOC would also consider the possibility of filing one case instead of different cases on the same issue by different agencies. Currently the CIABOC is bound by a clause on confidentiality.
“The objective will be to have well coordinated investigations and a strong case,” Mr Jayamanna said. He said that a proposal enabling the CIABOC to seek legal opinion from the Attorney General was also among the amendments in addition to allowing the AG’s Department to carry out prosecutions. The powers of the AG’s Department to prosecute cases involving bribery and corruption were removed with the introduction of the Commission in 1994.
The proposed amendments also include powers to investigate cases of money laundering. This was because during investigations, details of cases of money laundering had emerged, but the CIABOC did not have powers to investigate, he explained.