Justice does not only judge the person before the court, it adjudicates the actions of society as a whole.
Speech by Minister of Justice and Correctional Mr Ronald Lamola Delivered
13th International Congress Of Justice Ministers Rome,
DATE: 1-2 March 2023
Distinguished Guests Ladies and Gentlemen
It is with sense of great honour that I gather with you today almost 28 Years since South Africa has abolished the death penalty.
Moreover, South Africa has also just marked 25 years of the Constitution coming effect.
We also gather at an exceedingly challenging time in the world.
We gather at a time where some of us in the global community are pursuing conflict instead of peace.
The world right to the level of communities has become polarized by our differences.
The rise of populism comes with a decline in human rights-based culture.
Our gathering today goes into the heart of what a human rights-based approach should be to the global criminal justice systems.
History is replete with the reality that human rights are not asserted by violence but rather by a response that values human life.
As mentioned earlier this year marks the 28th year in which our Constitutional Court in one of its most ground-breaking judgments S v Makwanyane abolished the death penalty.
I would like to draw your attention to another case within a similar time which profoundly frames the paradox at the heart of the criminal justice system.
In a judgment cited as S v Coetzee our former Justice of the Constitutional Court, Justice Albie Sachs wrote:
“There is a paradox at the heart of all criminal procedure in that the more serious the crime and the greater the public interest in securing convictions of the guilty, the more important constitutional protections of the accused become.”
He goes on to say:
“The harmfulness of the offence is one of the givens, against which the presumption of innocence is pitted from the beginning, not a new element to be put into the scales as part of a justificatory balancing exercise.”
This is an incisive observation on two fronts.
Firstly, it raises the possibility that an innocent person may find themselves being subjected to the death penalty in spite of their innocence.
Secondly, it makes one question if we are not better off with a society wherein those who cause harm are forced to reckon with the consequences of their actions.
At the heart of criminal justice system is not a pursuit of vengeance but justice.
Justice does not only judge the person before the court, it adjudicates the actions of society as a whole.
Therefore, the ultimate solution in addressing the harms that criminals accrue to society is not limited to afflicting a consummate response on the perpetrator, but also helping society understand why our communities produce individuals who are of this calibre.
It goes without saying that where there is a death penalty crime is not deterred in fact the consensus is now substantial there is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than long terms of imprisonment.
Countries that have death penalty laws do not have lower crime rates or murder rates than countries without such laws. Where the death penalty has been there is also no significant changes in either crime or murder rates.
As we gather here today there is consensus amongst that the state sponsored vengeance in the form of the death penalty does not alter society. If anything, it makes the world even more violent and inhumane.
Our country is committed to making international law a binding force of our multi-lateral institutions and global community.
The values of our Constitution and international law are mutually reinforcing and interrelated.
As a result, we have taken the approach of our extradition and mutual legal assistance framework to affirms the right to life.
Our Extradition Act which is currently being considered for amendment makes it clear that where an offence is punishable by death or any other inhumane or degrading punishment under the laws of the requesting State.
South Africa will be obliged to engage the requesting State to provide assurances, to that the death penalty or other inhumane or degrading punishment will not be imposed, or if imposed, will not be carried out.
We believe that this approach will enable us to not only uphold a human rights culture in the world but ensure that our commitments in forums like these and in other multilateral institutions are credible and continue to spread across.
Holding the global community to account for human rights violations is a shared responsibility, it is not just the purview of the select few.
It is for this reason we are grateful to be part forum of this nature where the global community dissects critical issues of this nature through dialogue.
I thank you.