It is not simply that the two Applicants, have been effectively cleared of the malicious allegations of money laundering and corruption, a fact of which I am very pleased. It is mainly for the reason, that, for the first time, the High Court has come out succinctly to state legal principles that must govern the exercise of prosecutorial discretions. As until the monumental judgement, that lawyers will be using for a long time to come, there was an awareness on prosecutors as to what the very basic expectations were in deciding whether or not to proffer charges. Several cases had articulated the roles of prosecutors in criminal litigation; none had been as succinct as the one instant.
The near-absolute prosecutorial powers conferred on the DPP by section 51 of the Constitution, make the DPP one of the most essential offices in our legal system. The fact that in exercising his professional mandate he is not under the control and authority of any person, puts him at the same level with, perhaps, Judges of the High Court, in terms of their power over those affected by their decisions.
