By Kebba Jeffang
The Justice Minister Aboubacarr Tambadou on Thursday, July 
2017, says after the completion of the Criminal Case and Detention Review Panel (CCDP), 36 criminal cases are discontinued out of 241 cases involving 304 accused persons including public officials.
“I am pleased to report that the Criminal Case and Detention Review Panel have now completed the review of all cases under its purview,” he said.
He said the mandate of the panel was to review and make recommendations to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice on specified categories of cases including criminal cases against current or former public servants, or criminal cases linked to a political activity.
“I have now received the final report of the Panel with its recommendations.
“Over the past 3 months, the Panel has reviewed a total of 241 criminal cases involving 304 accused persons,” he said. Minister Tambadou said recommendations were made to discontinue prosecutions in 36 cases involving 86 accused persons on the basis of insufficient evidence. He said there are 208 people held in remand awaiting trial or the conclusion of trial for various offences including murder and rape.
“Convicts or remand prisoners with medically certified mental disabilities will be transferred from prisons to Tanka Tanka psychiatric hospital for appropriate treatment,” he said.
It could be recalled that the panel was established by the Ministry of Justice and its membership drawn from this Ministry and various other organs under the Ministry of the Interior including the Gambia Police Force, the Prison Service, and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
