Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Justice Srem-Sai, has clarified that the ongoing dispute involving the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) is not about a refusal to grant authorisation, but rather the OSP’s stance on its institutional independence.
His comments follow a High Court ruling on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, directing the Attorney-General’s Department to assume control of all criminal prosecutions currently being handled by the OSP, pending formal authorisation from the Attorney-General’s office.
The decision effectively transfers all ongoing OSP cases to the Attorney-General’s Department on an interim basis, stripping the OSP of the authority to continue prosecuting those matters in their current form.
The court further declared the existing OSP prosecutions “null and void,” suggesting that the cases may need to be refiled or restarted under the Attorney-General’s authority, depending on the state’s next steps.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM on Friday, April 17, Justice Srem-Sai indicated that his office remains open to granting approval once a formal request is made.
“Why not? Why won’t we grant them the authorisation if they apply for it? We have been liaising with the Office of the Special Prosecutor since we came to office. There are so many things that we have done, some of which I cannot account for. So there’s no issue about liaising or not liaising. Why won’t we? That’s the question I am asking,” he said.
However, he argued that the OSP has not sought such authorisation because it maintains that it operates independently of the Attorney-General.
“OSP is not interested in coming for the authorisation. That is because the OSP says that it is independent and doesn’t require the authorisation. That is the issue at the center of it,” he stated.
Justice Srem-Sai emphasized that the matter should not be reduced to a simple question of whether approval is granted or withheld, but must be understood within the broader debate about the constitutional independence of the Special Prosecutor.
“The whole argument is the independence of the Special Prosecutor, which is at the core of this issue. So if you simplify the matter and you say that it’s just about giving authorization and not giving it, then you probably have completely left the issue aside and you’re addressing a completely different issue,” he added.
