Public Prosecution handled 27,672 cases

MUSCAT, April 24 - Around 27,672 cases were handled by Public Prosecution in 2018, a fall by 0.1 per cent from 2017, representing a drop of only 14 cases. The number of the accused stood at 37,062 in 2018, while in 2017 it was 34,629, an increase by 7 per cent compared to the year before. Around 45 per cent of the accused are expatriates (16,607), 92 per cent are male, 2 per cent are juvenile. This was revealed at an annual press conference by Public Prosecution on Wednesday, presided over by Dr Ahmed al Shukaili and Sulieman al Marjbi, assistant prosecutors.

The widely-reported crimes in 2018 are cheque bounce cases (4,715), followed by narcotics (2,328), robbery (2,306), labour law violations (2,217), abuse of dignity (1,519), violation of Consumer Protection Law (1,417), violation of Residency Law (1,262), traffic accidents (1,163), simple abuses (1,063), and breach of trust (1,010).

Last year saw an increase in murder cases by a mere one case from 123 to 124. Around 30 per cent of Omanis were accused in cheque bounce cases.

Addressing the media, the Public Prosecution said that 8 out of 1,000 people in Oman are accused, and 3 cases are initiated by the Public Prosecution per one hour in 2018.

Felonies decreased by 7.7 per cent compared to 2017, while cases on appeal increased by 28.5 per cent (5,977). Cases of misdemeanor saw a rise by 2.2 per cent totalling 26,066 cases.

More than a third quarter of these cases (75.8 per cent) were referred to the Public Prosecution by Royal Oman Police, 9.7 per cent were initiated by the Public Prosecution itself, 5.3 per cent were sent by Ministry of Manpower, 4.8 per cent from the PACP, 0.9 per cent from Muscat Municipality, 0.8 per cent from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, 0.7 per cent from the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources, 0.6 per cent from the Ministry of Interior, 0.4 per cent from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, 0.3 per cent from Dhofar Municipality, and 0.7 per cent others.

Around 94 per cent of the cases are listed under misdemeanor category, 37 per cent of them were registered in Muscat, followed by Dhofar with 11.7 per cent, 11 per cent from North Al Batinah, 10 per cent from South Al Batinah, 7.5 per cent from Al Dakhiliyah, 6.2 per cent from South Al Sharqiyah, 5.75 per cent from North Al Sharqiyah, 4.5 per cent from Al Dhahirah, 3.6 per cent from Buraimi, 1.7 per cent from Al Wusta and 1.1 per cent from Musandam.

As far as the total number of cases per month in 2018 — October registered the largest number of cases at 3,120, 11 per cent of the total number of cases, followed by December (2,870), while the lowest number of cases are registered in August (1,584).

It is worth mentioning that in accordance with the directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, the Public Prosecution initiated early use of modern technology in a manner that preserves quality in work and speed in execution, starting with electronic investigation launched by the Public Prosecution a decade ago.

Earlier, Public Prosecution conducted an e-connectivity with the Royal Oman Police, the Public Authority for Consumer Protection, the Ministry of Manpower, and the General Administration of Customs. The Public Prosecution has also started coordination with the State Audit Institution, and the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources.