Parti Gerakan lauded the proposal to implement plea bargaining in criminal cases. It will help to speed up disposal of criminal cases as the backlog is building up to the detriment of the accused. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Plea bargaining is widely practised in the U.S. which helps to dispose of “straight-forward” cases. The accused plead guilty in consideration of a lighter sentence to be meted out by the courts. This will save the courts’ time and expenses if a full trial is to go on.

Unofficially, this practice is being done in many commonwealth countries which agree with the usefulness of having plead-bargaining.

However, the government must have the necessary guidelines spelled out to prevent abuses and incidents of injustice. The accused must not be pressurised by any party to plead guilty and they must not be motivated by the lighter sentences where they are innocent in those charges.

The consequences of pleading guilty must be clearly explained to them who must be properly advised and counselled on the offer. The courts must be circumspect in allowing plea bargaining as some heinous crimes causing severe injuries/deaths to the public or damaging national economy and public confidence in the country must be severely dealt with. Those crimes must be severely punished to work as deterrence to others and gain public confidence in the judiciary.

Overall, the practise is welcomed and laudable especially in long protracted and complicated cases where millions have to be spent on trials.