New Bill aims to beef up criminal probes

The Mozambican Parliament on Monday approved a draft Bill amending the law on the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic), which will now come under the authority of the Attorney-General, with all MPs voting in favour, reports the Club of Mozambique. The four parliamentary groups, namely the Mozambique Liberation Front, the Optimistic People for the Development of Mozambique, the Mozambican National Resistance and the Mozambique Democratic Movement, voted in favour of the proposed revision of the Sernic law to allow greater dynamism in criminal investigation services. Earlier, when requesting approval of the draft Bill, Mozambique’s Minister of Justice had admitted that, over the years, there had been ‘weaknesses’ in the performance of Sernic in its role as an auxiliary body to the judicial authorities. With the approval of the draft Bill, it will now be the responsibility of the Attorney-General to make general recommendations on the work of Sernic, in line with the aims of criminal investigation and preliminary investigation of criminal proceedings, as well as to approve Sernic’s annual budget proposals. The new Sernic law also gives the Public Prosecutor’s Office the power to verify compliance by Sernic bodies with the country’s laws and regulations and to revoke any illegal administrative acts. The newly approved law also provides for the creation of specialised investigation units within Sernic, dedicated to organised and transnational crime, asset recovery, corruption, cybercrime and financial and accounting expertise.