Liberia Publications

Women in Pre-trial Detention in Africa

This is a publication of of the project 'Promoting Pre-trial Detention in Africa' (PPJA). The objective of this review is to explore existing literature in respect of the reasons for female remand detention in Africa and the challenges women experience in prison. The biggest challenge to compiling this review was the lack of centralised and comprehensive statistics. The subject is under-researched and statistics referred to represent snapshot data obtained either from the database of the International Centre for Prison Studies or from various ad hoc reports. Literature pertaining to South Africa was available, but authoritative studies from less developed countries do not exist, or were last undertaken as long ago as the 1980s. The failure of states to allocate resources to female detainees and the absence of consistent and clear policies and legislation around the issues they commonly encounter suggest a lack of awareness or a lack of political will to improve the situation. Report by Marilize Ackermann

Submission to South Africa's Parliament on the DCS 2013/14 Annual Report

This submission discusses the 2013/14 Department of Correctional Services (South Africa) Annual Report. More specifically, it discusses human rights violations in prison (including allegations of torture), the mandate of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services, rehabilitation and the review of the White Paper on Corrections, the SIU investigation into corruption in prison, lengthy pre-trial detention and leadership instability.

Handbook on Juvenile Law In Zambia

This publication by Zambia's Centre for Law and Justice, Cornell Law School’s Avon Global Center for Women and Justice, and Cornell Law School's International Human Rights Clinic offers a compendium of Zambian juvenile law, including the processing of juveniles in the criminal justice system. It synthesizes relevant constitutional and statutory law, case law, and international human rights law and highlights best practices that practitioners may consider when working on matters involving juveniles.

The African Commission’s Guidelines on Pre-trial Detention: Implications for Angola and Mozambique

This paper by Tina Lorizzo explores the implications of the Guidelines and the similarities and differences between Angola and Mozambique with regard to arrest, police custody and pre-trial detention.

The African Commission’s Guidelines on Pre-trial Detention: Implications for Angola and Mozambique

On 8 May 2014, in Luanda (Angola), the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) adopted the Guidelines on the Use and Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-trial Detention in Africa. Shortly after the adoption of the Guidelines, the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative (CSPRI) of the Community Law Centre at the University of Western Cape (South Africa) co-hosted on 21-22 May 2014 a workshop in partnership with the Mozambican Institute of Legal Aid (Instituto de Patrocínio e Assistência Jurídica, IPAJ), in Maputo, to begin a debate on the implementation of the Guidelines in Mozambique and Angola.

Measuring Criminal Justice in Africa: Meeting Report

This report records the discussion which took place in Dakar, Senegal, on 10 and 11 June 2014.

Expert report by CSPRI to the Khayelitsha Commission on the independent oversight of police stations

This report deals with the following: the value of independent oversight, foreign and international models of best practice, oversight structures relevant to the Khayelitsha police stations, and gave recommendations. Report by Clare Ballard

Presentation on measurement methods in the African context

This is presentation on measurement methods in the African context made by Jean Redpath at a seminar in Dakar in June 2014.

Presentation on an overview on data, measurement and indicators

This is an overview presentation on data, measurement and indicators made by Jean Redpath at a PPJA seminar in Dakar in June 2014.

Journal Article: Unsustainable and unjust: Criminal justice policy and remand detention since 1994

The ‘tough on crime’ approach embodied in bail and sentencing law has had a profound impact on the trends around remand detention, including prison overcrowding of such an extent that it is estimated to have contributed to an additional 8 500 natural deaths in custody. Ultimately the policies have led, in practice, to an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ effect: fewer people are being tried and sentenced, while more than ever are denied their freedom without ever being tried in a court of law.

Directrizes sobre o Uso e as Condições de Detenção, Custódia Policial e Prisão Preventiva em África (PPJA translation)

This is an unofficial translation in Portuguese by PPJA researcher Tina Lorizzo, of the Guidelines on the Use and Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-trial Detention in Africa, adopted the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), on 8 May 2014.

Princípios e Directrizes das Nações Unidas sobre o acesso à Assistência Jurídica nos Sistemas de Justiça Criminal (PPJA translation)

Unofficial translation by Tina Lorizzo of the Guidelines and Principles on Legal Aid, adopted by the United Nations in October 2012.

Kiwanuka John v Uganda, Miscellaneous Application No. 213 of 2013 (High Court of Uganda at Nakawa)

"I take note that whereas the Applicant herein has not proved Exceptional Circumstances, which I have already noted is not mandatory as per Section 15 T.I.A see Foundation for Human Rights Initiatives vs. Attorney General (supra), I have put into consideration the period spent by the Applicant on remand that is from the time of his committal to the High Court on 9th/11/2011 to date and noticed that his detention was unduly prolonged given his condition of ailments. In the given circumstances, I take cognizance of the International Human rights treaties to which Uganda is a signatory where emphasis has been put on the distinction between people who have been found guilty, those convicted by a Court of law and sentenced to imprisonment and those who have not."

30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku March 2014

This edition of 30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku covers news items from June 2012 on governance and corruption, parole and sentencing, unsentenced prisoners, prison conditions, South Africans imprisoned abroad, rehabilitation, as well as prison related news from other African countries.

CSPRI Newsletter No. 45

Safety and security: Do the ANC and the DA advocate for more of the same or a shift in policy? This newsletter discusses the policy recommendations of the ANC and the DA on crime prevention and crime combating contained in their respective electoral documentation, in the wake of the next general election.

Protecting the right to personal liberty in Namibia: Constitutional, delictual and comparative perspectives

This article was published in AHRLJ Volume 14 No 2 2014. Although the recent Supreme Court of Namibia cases of Alexander v Minister of Home Affairs & Others and Gawanas v Government of the Republic of Namibia were not merely decided under the Criminal Procedure Act 1977 (Namibia), but in terms of special statutes, namely, the Extradition Act 11 of 1996 and the Mental Health Act 18 of 1973 respectively, they nonetheless involved the determination by the Court of the individual right to personal liberty in terms of article 7 of the Constitution of Namibia of 1990, thus bringing the Court face to face with balancing the right to personal liberty against the public interest in the enforcement of the law. Alexander could properly be described as consisting of two parts: the trial judge’s treatment of the limitation clause in the Namibian Constitution, which survived on appeal, and the Supreme Court judgment which turned on the problem of granting bail in the circumstances of extradition proceedings. While Gawanas is a classic illustration of bureaucratic negligence, both cases involve the protection of personal liberty of the individual as against legislative interference and infringement by the agents of state. The lesson emerging therefrom is that the protection of personal liberty under the Namibian Constitution extends to persons, to citizens, foreigners within Namibia and to someone with some form of disability. The other lesson emanating from this study is that a person whose right to personal liberty or dignity has been infringed can ventilate that breach by way of judicial review, contesting the legality of the law or under the principles of administrative justice in the Constitution or the law of delict, alleging wrongfulness, fault and damage.

Constitution of the Tunisian Republic (2014)

This document constitutes a non-official translation of the text of the Constitution submitted for adoption, in plenary session of the National Constituent Assembly, on January 26, 2014. This translation is provided by the UNDP Project Supporting the Constitutional Process, the National Assembly and the National Dialogue With the financial contribution of Japan, Belgium, the European Union, Sweden, Norway, Denmark,Switzerland and UNDP.

Newsletter 7: Women in pre-trial detention in DRC; Conditions at Mpimba Prison; Legal assistance for detainees in Angola; Uniforms for remand detainees in South Africa

In this edition of the PPJA Newsletter we look at: * Women in pre-trial detention: Held for their partners' crimes in Democratic Republic of Congo * Conditions at Mpimba Prison in Bujumbura: Failure to separate men and women and overcrowding * Legal Assistance for detainees in Angola: NGO gains access to impoverished detainees * Uniforms for remand detainees in South Africa: Pilot uniforms launched

Kettie Kamwangala v Republic, Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, Criminal Appeal No.6 of 2013

"In our view there was only one issue before the court. This is namely whether or not to release the appellant on bail. And in keeping with the law the High Court should have asked itself one and only one question namely: whether or not it was in the interests of justice that the appellant continues to be in detention."

Survey of detention visiting mechanisms in Africa

This CSPRI report by Marilize Ackerman covers a range of visiting mechanisms for places of detention in Africa.

30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku November 2013

This edition of 30 Days/Dae/Izinsuku covers news items from June 2012 on governance and corruption, parole and sentencing, unsentenced prisoners, prison conditions, South Africans imprisoned abroad, rehabilitation, as well as prison related news from other African countries.