The Hela Police Command has convened the province’s first-ever Prosecution Review Committee. The initiative aims to review monthly court files, lift conviction rates, and hold officers accountable for cases lost in court.
The committee will meet monthly to review all files presented before the courts, including cases involving murder, tribal fights, sorcery-accusation-related violence (SARV), rape, and armed robbery reported in the province.
The committee comprises the Police Station Commander (PSC) Tari, PSC Komo, PSC Koroba, PSC Magarima, Officer in Charge (OIC) of Criminal Investigations, OIC Traffic, Highway Patrol Commander, Commander for Mobile Squad Nine (9), and the Tari Shift Coordinator. This structure ensures every unit that arrests and charges suspects in the province sits at the same table as the prosecutors who carry the files into court.
Provincial Police Commander (PPC), Inspector Arau Mairi, said the aim is simple: stop losing strong cases due to poorly prepared files.
“For far too long, suspects have walked free not because they are innocent, but because our files are weak. That ends now," PPC Mairi said. “Every file that is lost in court will be reviewed. If an officer failed to collect evidence, failed to get a proper statement, or failed to attend court, he or she will be held accountable.”
The committee will sit monthly to fulfill the following objectives:
Monitor and analyze the province’s monthly prosecution statistics—including arrests, charges laid, cases listed, convictions, acquittals, and pending files—so the Command and Police Headquarters can track Hela’s true conviction rate.
Review every case dismissed, withdrawn, or struck out in the National and District Courts in the preceding month, as well as every case where no evidence was offered or no prosecution followed an arrest, to determine how investigations or prosecutions can be improved.
Investigate missing appearances, specifically looking into cases where a civilian or police witness failed to attend court, an investigating officer failed to comply with a Case Status Notice, or a court made adverse comments regarding the conduct of a police officer or prosecutor.
Identify common defects in court files submitted by local stations, return defective files to their station of origin for completion within a set timeframe, and arrange short workshops to correct recurring faults.
Verify documentation precision, ensuring that bail certificates, antecedent reports, and charge sheets are correctly completed, and that arrest warrants and case files are securely stored.
Recommend disciplinary action to the Commander—and through him to the Assistant Commissioner—where a file has been neglected, a witness has not been arranged, or a court appearance was missed, while reporting findings monthly to the Director of Prosecutions.
PPC Mairi noted that during its inaugural sitting, the Committee received the Prosecutions monthly report for the period spanning September 23 to October 23, 2026, and began reviewing cases that were dismissed, withdrawn, or not proceeded with during that timeframe.
The PPC also highlighted that some arresting officers in the province were still charging drug offenses under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. This Act was repealed on March 31, 2022, and replaced by the Controlled Substance Act 2021. All stations have now been directed to issue charges under the current Act with immediate effect.
“The Committee is not a court-martial, but its first job is to find out why we lose cases and fix it,” PPC Mairi said. He added that the committee’s monthly reports will be forwarded to the Assistant Commissioner of Police for the Highlands Western End and to the Director of Prosecutions at Police Headquarters after every sitting.