Sudan

The Criminal Act 1991

Part IV
Sanctions

Chapter I
Penalties

Death
27.(1) Death penalty shall be by hanging, lapidation, or in the same manner in which the offender caused death, and it may be by way of hud, retribution (qisas) or Ta'azir; and it may be accompanied by crucifixion.

(2) With the exception of Hudud and retribution (qisas) offences, death sentence shall not be passed against any person, who has not attained the age of eighteen, or who exceeds seventy years of age.

(3) Death sentence with crucifixion shall not be passed except for armed robbery (hiraba).


Retribution (qisas)
28.(1) Retribution (qisas) is the punishment of an intending offender with the same offensive act he has committed.

(2) The right to retribution is initially established for the victim and then vests in his relatives .

(3) In case of murder, retribution shall be death by hanging and, if the court sees fit, it shall be in the same manner in which the offender has caused death.

(4) In the case of wounds retribution shall be in accordance with the provisions set out in Schedule I hereto.


Conditions of retribution (qisas)
29. For applying retribution for wounds, the following conditions shall be satisfied:
(a) similarity between the two organs in type, soundness and size, and there shall be no retribution except for a counter-part of the injured organ and a sound organ shall not be taken for a paralysed or defective one, nor a complete for an incomplete one, or an original for an additional, but the whole shall be taken, for the whole, and the part, for the part, as retribution may require, and

(b) the possibility of fairly satisfying punishment for similar organs without the death of the offender resulting therefrom, or exceeding the injury which he has inflicted on the victim.


Retribution (qisas)
30.(1) An individual shall be executed for a group and a group for an individual.

(2) Retribution (qisas) is multiple, in case of wounds by the multiplicity of unsimilar parts, in which case the smaller shall be included in the greater, except where the offender intends to deform the victim, retribution shall then be by two amputations, the smaller and the greater.

(3) Where the offender amputates similar parts from several victims all off which are punishable with retribution he shall be punished with retribution if any of the victims so demands without prejudice to their right to claim complete or incomplete dia, as the case may be.

(4) Where the offender amputates three parts, or more of one, or several victims, all of which are punishable with retribution he may be punished with retribution, for what he has amputated, or with death.


Remittance of retribution (qisas)
31. Retribution shall be remitted in any of the following cases :

(a) where the victim, or his relative is an offspring of the offender;

(b) where the victim, or some of his relatives have pardoned, with, or without consideration ;

(c) where the injury occurs with the consent of the victim;

(d) where sanity of the offender s hopeless, in case of his becoming insane, after the passing of the sentence of retribution (qisas) against him;

(e) extinction of wounds. of the part subject to retribution, (qisas), in case


Relatives of victim entitled to retribution (qisas)
32.(1) The relatives of a victim entitled to retribution (qisas) are his heirs at the time of this death.

(2) Where the victim is a minor, or insane, or of unsound mind, he shall be represented by his relative, trustee or custodian and the court may wait until the attainment of puberty of the minor, if it deems fit.

(3) The State shall be guardian for every person who has no guardian, or the place of whose guardian is unknown or whose guardian is absent and there is no hope of his return.

(4) The relative of a victim in case of murder, or intentional wounds shall have the right to claim retribution, or dia, or reconciliation, upon an amount of money, or complete pardon; and in the two cases of semi-murder and negligently causing death, or wounds, he may claim dia, reconciliation or pardon; provided that a person representing a minor and anyone in the same status shall not pardon, save for consideration which shall not be less than the dia.

(5) The right of an unknown, or absent relative to retribution, or dia, or pardon shall revive, if he returns before execution of retribution (qisas) or payment of dia.

(6) Pardon may not be retracted from, if it is expressly made by consent.


Imprisonment and expatriation
33.(1) Penalty of imprisonment shall include :

(a) life imprisonment, the term of which shall be twenty years;

(b) exile which is imprisonment in a place far from the place where the offence is committed and from the offender's place of residence.

(2) Expatriation is the restriction of the offender's residence away from the place where the crime is committed.

(3) With the exception of armed robbery (hiraba) the imprisonment penalty may not be passed upon any person who has not attained eighteen years of age.

(4) With the exception of armed robbery (hiraba), the imprisonment penalty may not be passed upon a person who is seventy years of age, and where the term of imprisonment is retracted, or remitted by reason of attainment of seventy years of age, there shall apply to the offender the penalty of expatriation for the term of imprisonment prescribed.

(5) In calculating the whole term of imprisonment passed at the same trial for several offences the total term of imprisonment shall not exceed the term of life imprisonment.

(6) Where the offence may be punished with fine only, the period of imprisonment determined by the court instead of payment of fine shall not exceed:

(a) two months, if the amount of fine does not exceed £ 1000 ;
(b) four months, if the amount of fine does not exceed £5000;
(c) six months, in any other case.


Fine
34.(1) The court shall assess fine with reference to the nature of the offence committed, the amount of wrongful gain obtained thereby , the degree of the offender's participation and his financial status.

(2) The court may order payment of fine, either in whole, or in part as a compensation for any person aggrieved of an offence, unless an independent judgment for compensation is passed.

(3) When passing a judgment of fine, the penalty of imprisonment shall be passed as an alternative penalty in the case of non payment of fine and if the convicted person pays part of the fine, the alternative term of imprisonment shall be shortened in proportion to the part paid of the total fine.

(4) Fine shall be remitted by death.


Whipping
35.(1) Save in Hudud offences, no sentence of whipping shall be passed, upon a person, who attained sixty years of age, or a sick person, whose life would be endangered by whipping, or whose sickness would thereby be aggravated .

(2) Where the penalty of whipping is remitted, by reason of age, or sickness, the offender shall be punished with an alternative penalty.


Forfeiture and destruction
36.(1) Forfeiture is the judgment vesting private property into the ownership of the State, without consideration, or compensation.

(2) Destruction is the damaging of property, without consideration, or compensation.


Closing of premises
37. The penalty of closing premises is the judgment prohibiting the use of premises, or conducting in any way any business therein, for a period, not less than one month, and no exceeding one year.


Pardon of the offence
38.(1) The execution of Hudud shall not be remitted by pardon.

(2) The execution of qisas shall not be remitted, save with pardon of the victim, or his relative.

(3) The execution of the Ta'azir penalty may be wholly, or partially remitted by pardon of the public authority, in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Act, and without prejudice to the rights of any aggrieved person of the pardoned offence in obtaining compensation.


Chapter II
Ta'azir Penalty and Evaluation Thereof

Multiplicity of offence and persistent offenders
39. The court shall, when determining the appropriate Ta'azir penalty and evaluating it, take into consideration all the mitigating, or aggravating circumstances, and in particular, the degree of responsibility, motives for commission of the offence, seriousness of the act, grievousness of the injury, the dangerous nature of the offender, his position and previous convictions and all the other circumstances surrounding the incident.


Multiplicity of offences and its effect on penalties
40.(1) Where a single act constitutes more than one offence, the penalties shall overlap and only one penalty, which is the greater shall be inflicted.

(2) Where offences are multiple, all penalties therefor, except forfeiture, shall be excluded by the death sentence passed for one of them.


Persistent offenders
41.(1) Where a person is convicted of any offence, which may be punished with imprisonment, and has previously been convicted twice for similar offences, the court shall punish him with imprisonment.

(2) Where a person is convicted of any offence, which may be punished with imprisonment and has previously been sentenced with imprisonment twice, the court shall punish him with imprisonment, and the court shall warn the offender; and if after such warning the offender is convicted of any offence, which may be punished with imprisonment, committed during his imprisonment or during a year after his release, the court shall sentence him to imprisonment, for a term, not less than the maximum penalty prescribed for that offence.

Keywords

National penalties - national proceedings



EDIT.