Prevention of Gang and Other Serious Offences Act comes into effect

Prevention of Gang and Other Serious Offences Act has come into effect today.

The bill was ratified by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu on 25th May.

As per the act, compliance was set to begin three months after ratification.

As per the previous law, a thorough investigation under regular processes needs to take place if a group or gang commits a crime. If the crime is committed by a particular group or if an individual belongs to a group that has committed the crime, it must also be proved with evidence found through regulations. Due to legal obstacles in proving that the activities commonly carried out by the group to which the person belongs to are in fact, gang activities the law didn't stipulate the definition of a gang leader or gang member, with no punishment described in the law as well.

Under the previous law, crimes committed by gangs or groups required a full investigation through regular judicial processes. If an offence was carried out by a particular group, or if an individual was alleged to belong to such a group, the connection had to be proven with evidence gathered in accordance with regulations.

However, the law did not provide a clear definition of what constituted gang activity, nor did it specify who could be identified as a gang leader or member. As a result, prosecutors often faced legal obstacles in proving that the activities of certain groups amounted to organized gang crimes, and the law carried no specific punishments for gang membership or leadership.

However, with the compliance of the new Act starting today, once a gang or gang leader or gang member has been identified, keeping any connection to, communicating or registering a club association for them has been prohibited. The Act also stipulates that the identities and photos of gang members are to be made known to every law enforcement agency that belongs to a country that Maldives has diplomatic ties to.

The Act goes on to say that the list that contains gang members is to be updated and shared to all state organizations and law enforcement agencies of countries Maldives has a diplomatic relationship with every six months. 

The act also states that no legal entity may be registered if its name has any connection to or bearing of a gang name in any shape or form. The Police Commissioner is to present an updated list of all gang names to state organizations every two months in order to assist with the clause. The act also has special powers embedded into it should the crimes or organized crimes of a gang be investigated.

The act also includes the following:

<b>Establishments to receive major fine if knives are sold to minors</b>

As per the act, it is a crime for an establishment&nbsp; to sell items such as knives, box cutters or any sort of sharp objects that may be used for the purposes of physical violence to individuals below the age of 18. If the establishment were to have such an action be proven against them, they would receive a fine between MVR 20,000 and MVR 100,000.

<b>Gang members can be removed from their job posts</b>

If an individual has been identified to be a gang member and if that individual is employed at a state organization, the individual is to be removed from the post as per the act. The state organization cannot hire those individuals for any post and they cannot run for any sort of electoral position either, as per the Act.

Some characteristics of gangs or gang members, as described in the act are:&nbsp;

The act also describes the following as crimes: