Ali bin Fadl Al Buainain, the Attorney General held a press conference today at the Public Prosecution headquarters to announce annual statistics for the year 2023.
He affirmed that the Public Prosecution takes into account the social and developmental dimensions that the legislator intended to take into account in order to achieve social and economic security, and the financial and psychological stability of individuals and families, as they are the determining factors that the kingdom sets for development, protecting the country’s fundamentals and economic capabilities, as well as safeguarding human rights.
The Attorney General stated that 2023 included some important developments in the work of the Public Prosecution, especially regarding financial crimes and the criminal treatment of children.
A decision was issued to add a new jurisdiction to the financial crimes and money laundering prosecution, to investigate and act in cases related to infringement on the funds of companies or institutions in which the state is a shareholder, regardless of the amount of that share or its form.
The prosecution can, under this decision, exercise its authority over these types of crimes and undertake urgent and decisive legal procedures that enable it to pursue perpetrators and funds.
This decision came following the occurrence of cases of infringement on the funds of companies and institutions in which the state is a shareholder, which necessitated extending the scope of protection to public funds by including those entities with decisive procedural protection similar to the procedures followed in public funds cases.
A guideline was also launched on the application of single interview in child sexual cases, in cooperation and coordination with the Supreme Judicial Council and relevant ministries and government departments.
This guideline considers the best interests of children, as relevant authorities are aware of the nature of their personality and sensitive nature due to young age. This guideline aims to relieve children from the trauma of repeatedly recalling the crime and to avoid the resulting psychological damage.
The Attorney General praised the success of Public Prosecution’s “Rea’aya” (Care) initiative and the cooperation of partner entities in this initiative in including children, women, and family in the programme.
Since its launch at the end of 2021 and until the end of 2023, the initiative covered 347 cases in which the prosecution identified the need for urgent services and referred them to the relevant authorities. They are provided with various services in education, health, work, care and protection, as permitted by law.
The Attorney General thanked the Supreme Council for Women, the relevant ministries and directorates, and all the partners of the Public Prosecution in the initiative for their cooperation.
On electronic fraud cases, Al Buainain said in addition to addressing these crimes judicially, the Public Prosecution took initiatives and launched an awareness campaign on the official accounts of the Public rosecution. The campaign focused on explaining methods of fraud and calling for caution against the sharing of personal and banking information.
The Public Prosecution organised a roundtable discussion during 2023 to reduce electronic fraud crimes, which included officials from the Ministry of Interior, banks and banking institutions, and telecommunications. It discussed plans and strategies necessary to reduce electronic fraud crimes, and concluded with a set of recommendations.
The Attorney General affirmed the Public Prosecution’s keenness to continuously develop its capabalities to keep pace with the shifts in crime patterns and methods, in order to apply the law and the provisions of international agreements in which the kingdom is a member.
This requires communication with international counterparts to exchange expertise and information and consolidate coordination to attend to requests for judicial assistance, especially in high risk crimes; such as organised crime, corruption, money laundry, human trafficking and drugs.
The Public Prosecution has signed many agreements with counterpart Public Prosecution offices with distinguished expertise. In 2023 it signed memoranda of understanding with the Public Prosecution of Jordan, China, and Georgia.
The Attorney General announced that the achievement rate had reached 99%, and that the number of cases referred to the courts in 2023 compared to 2022 had decreased.
He attributed this to the Public Prosecution’s use of its discretionary authority to assess and classify cases and its continued use of its legal powers in issuing criminal orders, which leads to achieving justice and reducing the burden on the courts.
