Death Penalty for Mentally Disordered inmates is barred by SC
The Pakistan Supreme Court barred the death penalty of three mentally ill convicts on a death row, as it does not meet the requirements of justice.
On Wednesday, 10th February, the Supreme Court of Pakistan came to the decision that if a prisoner on a death row is unable to comprehend the reason behind their punishment, then they are to be barred from a death sentence, as it does not fulfil the purpose of the punishment. Thereby, the death penalty for mentally disordered inmates is barred in Pakistan.
A five-judge bench, headed by Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, made the announcement at the Lahore registry. The verdict was a result of the hearings on the appeals made for three mentally ill prisoners, sentenced a death row while displaying symptoms of mental illness. Their death penalties have now been reduced to life imprisonment.
Moreover, the court also informed the authorities to bring the jail manuals from all other provinces in harmony by amending Prison Rules. Federal and Provincial governments to facilitate high forensic mental health facilities at teaching mental health training institutes.
The federal government(For Islamabad) and the provincial government of all the states are to bring together a medical board consisting of renowned psychiatrists and psychologists from public sector hospitals to accommodate and evaluate prisoners suffering from mental illness, in order to make sure that the current verdict is not compromised.
The federal and provincial government was also assigned to set in motion training programs and certificate courses for psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social workers, police, and prison personnel on mental health assessment. Not only this, but judicial academies have been assigned to arrange courses on mental illness for court judges, prosecutors, lawyers, as well as court staff, to ensure that everyone is educated about the implications of mental health and the signs to recognize someone who has a mental disorder.
Finally, the Supreme Court emphasized that not every mental illness will result in an exemption of the death penalty. The exemption is only applicable if approved by the medical board. The Court also dismantled the use of ‘stigmatic labels’, such as “lunatic” and “Insane”. Thereby, from here on now, the Pakistan Penal Code and the Criminal Code of Procedure should substitute all stigmatic labels by using terms such as “mental disorder” and “mental illness”.
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