Abolition of Death Penalty and Its Implications for the Justice System in South Sudan
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ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN SOUTH SUDAN BY: THIEP LINO NHIAL LLM/11838/123/DF A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE COLLEGE OF HIGHER DEGREES AND RESEARCH OF KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENTOF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF LAWSOFKAMPALA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OCTOBER 2018 DECLARATION I, Thiep Lino Nhial declare that this thesis entitled “The Abolition of Death Penalty and its Implications for the Justice System in South Sudan” is my original work and it has never been presented in any other University for the award of the Degree of Master of Laws. ………………………………… Name and Signature of Student Date ………………………… i APPROVAL This is to certify that this thesis entitled “Abolition of Death Penalty and its Implications for the Justice System in South Sudan” has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Laws with my approval as University Supervisor. …………………………… Dr. Chima M Date ……………………… ii DEDICATION I dedicate this piece of work to my family my father Lino Nhial Thiep and my mother Josephina Achol Akol Riak. Their advice to me that I should achieve something in life of which they have referred to in a Dinka proverb that “moc ache ping ke la thok, moc aye ping ke cha loy” meaning that “A man cannot be famous with what goes to his mouth but with what he has done. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis was approved and made possible by the panel of Postgraduate School of Law of Kampala International University. The theme of the thesis is the Abolition of Death Penalty and its implications for the Justice System in South Sudan. I am convinced that the thesis presented will provide valuable resource to all the stakeholders for answering the question to whether death penalty should be abolished or not in South Sudan criminal justice system. This thesis was made by my own personal efforts, with help and consultation of my supervisor Dr. Chima, and an introduction letter obtained from S. Banenya, Dean School of Law. I am grateful to those who have cooperated with me in the field of the research and dedicated their time to answer the questionnaire of this thesis and allowed me to access the necessary facilities. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION....................................................................................................................... i APPROVAL ............................................................................................................................. ii DEDICATION......................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................ v LIST OF STATUTES & INSTRUMENTS ........................................................................ viii TABLE OF CASES................................................................................................................. ix LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATION ................................................................. x ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER ONE ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.0 General Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background of the Study ..................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Statement of the problem ..................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Research Objectives ............................................................................................................. 8 1.3.1. General objective: ............................................................................................................ 8 1.3.2 Specific objectives: ........................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Research question ................................................................................................................ 8 1.5 Significance of the Study ..................................................................................................... 8 1.6 Scope .................................................................................................................................... 9 1.6.1 Geographical Scope .......................................................................................................... 9 1.6.2 Content Scope ................................................................................................................... 9 1.6.3 Time Scope ....................................................................................................................... 9 1.7 Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 9 1.8 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................................... 10 1.8.1 Theory of punishment ..................................................................................................... 10 v 1.8.1.1 The utilitarian theory .................................................................................................... 10 1.8.1.2 Retribution Theory ....................................................................................................... 11 1.9 Literature Review............................................................................................................... 12 1.10 Organization Layout ........................................................................................................ 15 CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................... 16 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT .................................. 16 2.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 16 2.1 Definition of the Term Punishment ................................................................................... 18 2.2 Historical Overview of Death Penalty ............................................................................... 19 2.3 Religious views on Death Penalty ..................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................. 31 INTERNATIONAL LAW PERSPECTIVE OF DEATH PENALTY .................................... 31 3.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 31 3.1 The Death Penalty under International Laws ..................................................................... 31 3.1.1 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1996 (ICCPR) ............................. 32 3.1.2 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide .................... 33 3.2 Institutional Approach to Abolition of death penalty ........................................................ 34 3.2.1 European Union .............................................................................................................. 34 3.2.2 National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs)................................................................. 35 3.2.3 South Sudan Human Rights Commission ....................................................................... 36 3.2.4 The World Coalition against the Death Penalty ............................................................. 36 3.3 Juvenile offenders .............................................................................................................. 36 3.4 Abolitionism ...................................................................................................................... 39 3.5 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 45 vi CHAPTER FOUR .................................................................................................................. 47 THE LAW GOVERNING THE DEATH PENALTY IN SOUTH SUDAN AND EXPOSITION OF ISSUES ................................................................................................... 47 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 47 4.2 Overview of the Legal Framework for the death Penalty in South Sudan ........................ 47 4.3 Transitional Constitution ................................................................................................... 47 4.4 The Penal Code Act 2008 .................................................................................................. 47 4.5 The Code of Criminal Procedure Act, 2008. ..................................................................... 48 4.6 Other Laws ........................................................................................................................