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Op-ed: eight years, no verdict: The trapdoor in our new criminal code
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The Standard Newspaper | Gambia
When the National Assembly passed the Criminal Procedure Act of 2025, it replaced a code that had been in place since 1933.
- Advertisement -The key issue comes down to the difference between two words: discharge and acquittal.
If a case ends without a verdict, that protection does not apply.
Two questions are important: Should protection against being tried twice start once jeopardy attaches, rather than only after a verdict, as in the United States?
They are what separate a real justice system from a state that can keep someone under threat of prosecution forever.