End to death sentences causes Zimbabwe conundrum

A recent decision by Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court illustrates, yet again, the problem of ritual killings – murders in the name of witchcraft – and how the courts should deal with them. But this particular case, in addition to being one of the most tragic and gruesome that the courts have ever faced, had an additional twist: the apex court noted that recent changes to the law ending capital punishment in Zimbabwe have inadvertently created two categories of people under sentence of death. There are people who have ‘exhausted all appeal remedies’ available. Under the new law, they must be given a fresh hearing on sentence before the High Court. There is, at least at the moment, a second group of prisoners whose fate is tied up with the death penalty laws. These are people who had not yet ‘exhausted all appeal remedies’ available at the time the new laws came into effect. Our legal expert Carmel Rickard writes that the judges said this was discriminatory and they called for an amendment to ensure that all such prisoners had the same rights of appeal.

Judgment

A Matter of Justice