OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 8.30PM.
JUSTICE Minister Dullah Omar on Wednesday announced a project which will prevent dangerous criminals being released on bail.
According to Omar the project entails a computer link between courts and the police’s Criminal Record Centre in Pretoria, effectively giving courts access to all crime suspects’ previous conviction records.
Omar’s announcement follows the success of a pilot project that has linked Justice Department computers at the Mitchell’s Plain Magistrate’s Court, Cape Town to the South African Police Services’ criminal records centre in Pretoria.
The system has successfully prevented the release of repeat offenders: “In the first two months of operation, 92% of people who appeared in the Mitchell’s Plain court had their prints identified. Of these, 26% had previous convictions and 5% were wanted by the police.”
Omar said the system is inexpensive, and properly balances the interests of suspects and communities.
At present, courts have to wait six to eight weeks for suspect’s information, and bail is generally made without the criminal record of the accused being considered.
With the new system, courts will have access to criminal records within three hours.