Punishments in Islamic Criminal Law as Antithetical to Human Dignity: The Nigerian Experience

Abstract

From 1999 twelve states of Northern Nigeria extended the application of the Sharia legal system from personal law to all aspects of civil law and also to the field of criminal law. The punishments prescribed by the Sharia criminal laws include corporal punishment, death by stoning, haddi lashing, caning, amputation of hand or leg or both, and heavy fines. Local and foreign jurisprudence clearly show that most of these punishments constitute a violation of the right to human dignity which is guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria and international human right instruments to which Nigeria is a party.

Notes

1. Personal law is a system of law addressed to a number of persons by virtue of their belonging to a particular race, ethnic group or religion. See I.O. Agbede Legal Pluralism (Ibadan: Shaneson C.I. Limited, 1991), p.257. See also sections 242 1979 Constitution; ss. 262 and 277 1999 Constitution.

2. See Maida v Modu (2000) 4 NWLR (pt 651) 99; Gambo v Tukuji (1997) 10 NWLR (pt 526) 591; Usman v Kareem (1995) 2 NWLR (pt 379) p.537.

3. Kano, Kaduna, Niger, Kebbi, Katsina, Borno, Sokoto, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe and Yobe States.

4. A.B. Nwali, ‘Constitutional Structure and Position of the Judiciary with Particular Reference to the Sharia Court of Appeal’, 1989 Judicial Lectures: Continuing Education for the Judiciary (Lagos: M.I.J. Professional Publishers, 1991), p.150.

5. A.B. Nwali, ‘Constitutional Structure and Position of the Judiciary with Particular Reference to the Sharia Court of Appeal’, 1989 Judicial Lectures: Continuing Education for the Judiciary (Lagos: M.I.J. Professional Publishers, 1991), p.150.

6. A.B. Nwali, ‘Constitutional Structure and Position of the Judiciary with Particular Reference to the Sharia Court of Appeal’, 1989 Judicial Lectures: Continuing Education for the Judiciary (Lagos: M.I.J. Professional Publishers, 1991), p.152.

7. S.12 Sharia Court of Appeal Law of Northern Nigeria, 1960.

8. M.H. Kukah, Religion, Politics, and Power in Northern Nigeria (Ibadan: Spectrum, 1993), pp.125–6.

9. (2000) 4 NWLR (pt 651) 99; See also Gambo v Tukuji (1997) 10 NWLR (Pt 526) 591; Muninga v Muninga (1997) 11 NWLR (Pt 527) 1.

10. (1995) 2 NWLR (Pt 379) p.537.

11. At p.551–2.

12. (2001) 11 NWLR (pt 723) p.44 at 53.

13. Sharia Courts (Administration of Justice and Certain Consequential Changes) Law, 1999 of Zamfara State, section 5(1)(a) & (b).

14. Sharia Courts (Administration of Justice and Certain Consequential Changes) Law, 1999 of Zamfara State, section 5(2) (a) & (b).

15. Sharia Courts (Administration of Justice and Certain Consequential Changes) Law, 1999 of Zamfara State, s.7(1) (a).

16. The African Charter was ratified by Nigeria and domesticated pursuant to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, ch. 10 Laws of the Federation 1990.

17. See Articles 1, 4 and 5 of the UDHR and Articles 7 and 8 of the ICCPR.

18. (1991) 6 NWLR (pt. 2002), p.708.

19. (1996) 6 NWLR 587.

20. Declaration on Protection of All Persons from being subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, G.A. Resolution 3452 (xxx) of 9/12/75, Art. 1. Quoted in A.H. Robertson et al., Human Rights in Europe: A Study of the European Convention on Human Rights (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1993), p.36.

21. The Greek Case, Yearbook XII, p.186. Cited in Robertson, Human Rights in Europe: A Study of the European Convention on Human Rights (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1993), p.39.

22. (1991) 6 NWLR (pt. 200) 708.

23. See also the Greek case, Yearbook XII, 1969, pt II, p.186.

24. See for instance s.444 Criminal Procedure Law Cap 37 Laws of Anambra State of Nigeria 1986.

25. (1982) 2 NCLR 552 at 561.

26. (1984) 3 NCLR 830.

27. See paragraph 3 of the Bangalore principles. Between 24 and 26 February 1988 there was convened in Bangalore, India, a high-level judicial colloquium on the Domestic Application of International Human Rights norms. The colloquium was administered by the Commonwealth Secretariat on behalf of the convener, the Hon. Justice P.N. Bhagwati (former Chief Justice of India). The colloquium yielded the Bangalore principles which were developed, affirmed and re-affirmed by subsequent colloquia in Harare, Zimbabwe, 1989; in Banjul, the Gambia, in 1990; in Abuja, Nigeria, in 1991; in Oxford, United Kingdom in 1992; and in Bloemfontein, South Africa in 1993.

28. (1992) 4 SCNJ 81, 91.

29. Tyrer v U.K. 2.

30. (1994) 20 CLB 44–5.

31. (1988) 14 CLB Vol.4, p.1260.

32. Corporal Punishment by Organs of State; Ex Parte Attorney-General, In re, (1993) 19 CLB Vol.1, pp.62–3.

33. 404 F2d 571 (CAB 1968).

34. Suit No. CA/LA/221/95 reported in The Guardian, 31 July 1996; (1996) 6 NWLR 587.

35. Judgment No.S.C. 73/93 reported in Commonwealth Law Bulletin Oct 1993, pp.1393–4.

36. The Presidential Constitution of Nigeria (London: Hurst, 1981), p.411.

37. (1998) 13 NWLR (Part 509–659) p.531.

38. Criminal Appeal No. 142 of 1994: 30/1/95.

39. Supra.

40. (1983) (2) SCR 583.

41. (1983)1 P.A.C. 719 (P.C.).

42. (1995) (6) BCLR 665 (CC), (1995) SACLR LEXIS 218.

43. 408 U.S. 238 at 283 (1972).

44. 329 U.S. 459 (1947).

45. ECHR, Series A. No. 161, Judgment of July 7 1989, 11 EHRR 439.

46.

47. (1991)6 NWLR (Pt 200) 708.

48. This day, Sunday, 8 July 2001 p.1.

49. The Guardian, Thursday, 29 August 2002, pp.1–2.

50. Newswatch, 17 September 2001, p.22.

51. Newswatch, 17 September 2001, p.22.

52. (2002) 15 NWLR (pt.791) 657.

53. (1993) 7 NWLR (pt 307) 560; Suit No. S.C. 42/93.

54. Unegbu et al., ‘Revisiting the Quest4ion of Validity of Death Penalty in Human Rights Jurisprudence’, U.U. Chukwumaeze (ed.), in In Search of Legal Scholarship (Essays in Honour of Ernest Ojukwu) (Uturu: Abia State University Law Centre, 2001), p.28.

55. Suit No. A/LA/221/95; (1996) 6 NWLR 587.

56. (1998) 3 NWLR 531.

57. The Guardian, Thursday, 29 August 2002.

58. On Safiya Husseni Tungur-Tudu of Sokoto State, The Guardian, Thursday, 29 August 2002.

59. (1989) 1 EHRR 439. See also Stephen Ncube and Ors v The State (1988) 14 CLB Vol.4, p.1260, decided by the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe.

60. West Virginia State Board of Education v Barnette 319 U.S. 624.

61. The Guardian,Thursday, 21 March 2002, p.1.