Cap. 9 Art. 543Cases in which Police may proceed ex officio.

It shall be lawful for the Police to institute proceedings even without the complaint of the private party in any of the following cases:

(a) in the case of crimes for which the law does not expressly provide that the complaint of the private party is requisite;

(b) in the case of any offence consisting in the carrying of prohibited weapons, or in the case of any offence against any law relating to fishing, vehicles, or boats, or to any art or trade;

(c) in the case of any offence committed against a person who, by reason of physical or mental infirmity, is incapable of instituting criminal proceedings, even though such offence be one in respect of which, if committed against any other person, the complaint of the private party would be requisite;

(d) in the case of any offence affecting public order or the community in general;

(e) in the case of any offence involving domestic violence: Provided that for the purposes of this paragraph "domestic violence" shall have the same meaning assigned to it by article 2 of the Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence Act: Provided further that it shall be lawful, after proceedings have commenced before the court in virtue of this article for an offence mentioned in this paragraph, for an alleged victim of an offence involving domestic violence to request the court to stay proceedings against the alleged perpetrator, and when such a request is made the court may decide and direct the continuation of proceedings against the alleged perpetrator, giving particular consideration to the best interests of the complainant, any minors involved, and any other relevant third parties, and shall cause such request and decision to be registered in the records of the case.

(f) in the case of rape as defined in article 198:

Provided that it shall be lawful, after proceedings have commenced before the court in virtue of this article for an offence mentioned in this paragraph, for an alleged victim to request the court to stay proceedings against the alleged perpetrator, however, if such request is made, the court may decide to continue the proceedings against the perpetrator, giving particular consideration to the best interests of the complainant, any minors involved, and any other relevant third parties.