Functions of The Special Criminal Court in Cameroon!
Welcomed with mixed reactions when it was created in 2011, the special criminal court is increasingly feared by many managers of public funds because of its justice deemed “slow” but certain. In 2011, the Cameroonian justice set up a so-called “special” criminal court supposed to improve the judgment of criminal cases in the country. Indeed, the law instituting the jurisdiction was promulgated on December 14 of this year with the stated objective of “putting in place a more effective and faster system of repression to give more visibility to the action of the public authorities” in the fight against corruption and public embezzlement, but also to make its action visible both nationally and internationally.
Functions of The Special Criminal Court in Cameroon!
Operational in October 2012, the body began its first hearing a month later with the case: Cameroon Aeronautical Authority against Ntongo Onguéné Roger and Yves Michel Fotso.
Jurisdiction of the Special Criminal Court:
The body punishes offenses of embezzlement of public funds up to at least CFAF 50 million and related offenses provided for by the Penal Code and international conventions ratified by Cameroon. Related offenses include bribery, related offenses and other misconduct. This is the case of money laundering punished at the international level.
Indeed, these are offenses that harm the interests of the State. In addition, the Tcs rules in the first and last resort. By prohibiting the appeal, the law nevertheless authorizes the appeal in cassation. It is an extraordinary remedy open against all the decisions rendered in the last resort, which allows the party having lost the case to bring the case before the Supreme Court. All the same, it has no effect on the sentence pronounced, which must be carried out despite everything.
Reviews:
While many have welcomed the advent of this body of justice, the fact remains that it has been and continues to be the subject of criticism by some. Indeed, the latter believe that the body has become an instrument for settling scores and eliminating potential political adversaries on the pretext of the fight against corruption.
In addition, article 18 paragraph 1 of the law creating the Tcs which provides for the possibility of stopping proceedings in the event of restitution of the body of the offense is not unanimous. Me Tchoumi had indicated in 2012 that it is a regression compared to the ideal of justice. “If charges are dropped against the people who reimbursed the stolen sums, it is in a way a bonus for embezzlement, which does not benefit people who are convicted of having committed petty theft. The return of the corpus delicti should not erase the offence”.
Functions of The Special Criminal Court in Cameroon!
Success of the Special Criminal Court:
Since the establishment of the Tcs, many senior government officials have been auditioned and imprisoned for some. Presumed or actual perpetrators of embezzlement of public funds, the amount demanded of them generally amounts to billions of CFA francs. Beyond repression, justice is also concerned with the return of embezzled funds to state coffers. This is how the figures for 2020 show more than 181 billion FCFA recovered in the 225 judgments rendered by the special jurisdiction.
The Special Criminal Court and the Case of the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic :
One of the cases of the special criminal court which has recently caused a lot of ink and saliva to flow is inevitably that involving the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh. Indeed, the information was first relayed by the weekly Kalara, specializing in legal affairs. Christophe Bobiokono’s newspaper indicated that the Sgpr was heard as part of the investigation into the management of Covid funds.
This rumor has caused controversy within the media in particular and public opinion in general, opposing political supporters and opponents of one of the most powerful personalities in President Paul Biya’s entourage. The latter felt that it was “the beginning of the end of the reign” of the Sgpr.
Later, we learned that in reality, the Minister of Justice, would have obtained from the Head of State the authorization to send a questionnaire to Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh. The document drawn up by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, under the control of the Chancellery, was intended to obtain from the coordinator of the task force responsible for managing the Covid funds, information on the activities of the said task force, in a context where suspicions of “financial embezzlement” hover.
Indeed, it was a question of verifying the instructions given by the President of the Republic in the fight against this pandemic. Consequently, there was never any question of a possible arrest of the one-man band, a central pillar in the functioning of Cameroonian institutions as many have suggested. Therefore, one would be tempted to conclude that the constant bustle around the actions of the Sgpr would be linked to its “high functions” and therefore its certain influence which is very far from leaving the socio-political and economic actors of national life indifferent especially as battles for the succession heat up.