Who are we?
Brief History
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) was first established by the Constitution in 1964 whereby the power of then existing Procureur to prosecute crime was vested in the newly created post of Director of Public Prosecutions.
Initially the ODPP operated within the Attorney General's Office until the recommendation made by Lord Mackay in 2009. At the outset, the Mackay report recommended that the ODPP should operate as a separate department “managed by the Director of Public prosecutions and with no responsibilities except those relating to prosecution." However, following an updated Report by Lord Mackay and in light of the judgment of Jeewan Mohit v The Director of Public Prosecutions (2005 PRV 31), the ODPP was established as a separate office itself distinct from the Attorney General's Office with its own budget and establishment.
The Office
The mission of the ODPP is to bring offenders to justice and to ensure that their rights are safeguarded. It is committed to deliver a public service of high quality and ensure that a positive impact is made on person's lives by making their communities safer.
The ODPP is served by a team of dedicated, professional and hardworking staff who spare no efforts to accomplish its mission by taking prosecution decisions fairly, impartially and with integrity in order to deliver justice for victims, witnesses, suspects/ accused persons and the public.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is a public and independent office which prosecutes criminal cases referred to the office after investigation by the police and other investigative bodies. All prosecution decisions are made independently of the police and the government. The powers of the Director of Public Prosecutions are provided for at Section 72 of the Constitution:
The Director of Public Prosecutions shall have power in any case in which he considers it desirable so to do to—
(a) institute and undertake criminal proceedings before any Court of law (not being a Court established by a disciplinary law);
(b) take over and continue any such criminal proceedings that may have been instituted by any other person or authority; and
(c) discontinue at any stage before judgment is delivered any such criminal proceedings instituted or undertaken by himself or any other person or authority.
As of February 2020, the ODPP had 132 employees and has been operating from the Garden Tower, Port Louis (10th to 16th Floor) since September 2012. The office has been designed to provide law officers with the best working environment. It is equipped with state of the art offices, conference rooms, a law library and a lecture theatre offering a wide array of training facilities and which is named after late Rajsoomer Lallah, former Chief Justice of Mauritius.
