Legal reprieve: PBC urges government to allow presentence hearings
Bar calls for separate hearings on quantum of sentence and question of guilt
Supreme Court of Pakistan.
ISLAMABAD:
The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has proposed the enactment of legislation granting convicts a presentence hearing following their conviction in criminal cases.
Such hearings are held to determine if there are extenuating circumstances which could ameliorate the sentence or a history of criminal behaviour to increase the harshness of the sentence.
Legal experts told The Express Tribune that at a presentence hearing the defence may contend that the accused is a victim of circumstances or a first-time offender and seek a lighter sentence. Similarly, the prosecution may seek a severe punishment in view of the criminal record of the convict.
The human rights committee of the PBC recently passed a resolution for amending the provisions of criminal procedure code (CrPC) and other laws to provide for separate presentence hearing after the announcement of conviction of an accused. Copies of the resolution have been sent to the law ministry, the National Assembly speaker and Senate chairman for their input.
The committee has noted that most of the penal statutes in Pakistan prescribe sentences in broad discretionary terms. However, in most of the jurisdictions including India, hearings on the determination of the quantum of sentence are separately held from those on the question of guilt. Laws in Pakistan lack such bifurcation, says the resolution.
It is also stated that simultaneous hearing on the question of guilt and sentence deter the counsel for an accused to address the court on mitigating circumstances if any, with apprehension that the judge may not convict too readily.
“This situation in Pakistan, besides carrying a serious potential for the obvious miscarriage of justice is in violation of the fundamental rights of the citizens as enshrined in Articles 9, 10-A and 25 of the Constitution”, says the resolution.
The head of PBC’s human rights committee, Raheel Kamran Sheikh, says that he will also meet the government’s functionaries for early appropriate legislation in this matter. He contended that presentence hearing will reduce the numbers of prisoners in jails. Raheel further stated that the same practice has been going on in India since 1970s.
Renowned lawyer Faisal Saddiqui endorsing the proposed amendment said that a presentence hearing may differentiate the quantum of sentence between a habitual and first-time offender.
Deputy Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti opposed any amendment to give presentence hearing to the convicts and said that this exercise will further linger on the cases as well as increase the burden of work on courts. “Though the accused is the favourite child of the law, he is not the only child of the law,” he stated.
He contended that the courts while hearing criminal cases also examine the quantum of a sentence during the hearing.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 14th, 2016.
The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has proposed the enactment of legislation granting convicts a presentence hearing following their conviction in criminal cases.
Such hearings are held to determine if there are extenuating circumstances which could ameliorate the sentence or a history of criminal behaviour to increase the harshness of the sentence.
Legal experts told The Express Tribune that at a presentence hearing the defence may contend that the accused is a victim of circumstances or a first-time offender and seek a lighter sentence. Similarly, the prosecution may seek a severe punishment in view of the criminal record of the convict.
The human rights committee of the PBC recently passed a resolution for amending the provisions of criminal procedure code (CrPC) and other laws to provide for separate presentence hearing after the announcement of conviction of an accused. Copies of the resolution have been sent to the law ministry, the National Assembly speaker and Senate chairman for their input.
The committee has noted that most of the penal statutes in Pakistan prescribe sentences in broad discretionary terms. However, in most of the jurisdictions including India, hearings on the determination of the quantum of sentence are separately held from those on the question of guilt. Laws in Pakistan lack such bifurcation, says the resolution.
It is also stated that simultaneous hearing on the question of guilt and sentence deter the counsel for an accused to address the court on mitigating circumstances if any, with apprehension that the judge may not convict too readily.
“This situation in Pakistan, besides carrying a serious potential for the obvious miscarriage of justice is in violation of the fundamental rights of the citizens as enshrined in Articles 9, 10-A and 25 of the Constitution”, says the resolution.
The head of PBC’s human rights committee, Raheel Kamran Sheikh, says that he will also meet the government’s functionaries for early appropriate legislation in this matter. He contended that presentence hearing will reduce the numbers of prisoners in jails. Raheel further stated that the same practice has been going on in India since 1970s.
Renowned lawyer Faisal Saddiqui endorsing the proposed amendment said that a presentence hearing may differentiate the quantum of sentence between a habitual and first-time offender.
Deputy Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti opposed any amendment to give presentence hearing to the convicts and said that this exercise will further linger on the cases as well as increase the burden of work on courts. “Though the accused is the favourite child of the law, he is not the only child of the law,” he stated.
He contended that the courts while hearing criminal cases also examine the quantum of a sentence during the hearing.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 14th, 2016.