The High court has directed an Activist challenging the new formatting of the charge sheet to serve the ODPP his application before the matter is mentioned on June 23 for directions.
Justice Hedwig O'ngudi said the petitioner Charles Rubia has raised weighty issues that can only be determined after the office of the director of Public prosecutions responds.
She however said that the decision of Justice Anthony Mrima that gave the power to the DPP to draft and sign charge sheets is now at the court of appeal.
Rubia through his lawyers Danstan Omari and Shadrack Wambui said the new charge sheet being drafted by the DPP should be referred back to the police as it was previously.
The DPP has 10 days to reply to the petition and the applicant will have 5 days to put in a supplementary affidavit if required.
Last month, Rubia filed a petition challenging the implementation of new guidelines by the Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji on matters touching on criminal prosecution.
The activist said the DPP took powers to assent on charges before they are presented in the court.
According to the applicant, Haji took powers to draft charge sheets and sign the same before they are presented to the court.
The new policy by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) took away the powers of the police who have been left to investigate criminal cases and forward files to him to decide whether to charge or set free the suspects.
According to Omari, the new format of the charge sheets presented in court today is illegal as in the face of it the DPP is the complainant instead of the state or the public.
The lawyers argued that the DPP has usurped the powers and misinterpreted what justice Anthony Mrima said in his judgment.
"The DPP in implementing the new guidelines ought to have called for public participation in inviting all stakeholders so as to get views on how to implement the new regulations", the lawyer argued.
