DOC/OS(XXX)247 Page 17 9) Sentencing and punishment a) Punishments constituting a deprivation of liberty shall have as an essential aim the reform and social re-adaptation of the prisoners. b) In countries that have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime. c) Sentence of death shall not be imposed or carried out on expectant mothers and mothers of infants and young children. d) States that maintain the death penalty are urged to establish a moratorium on executions, and to reflect on the possibility of abolishing capital punishment. e) States shall provide special treatment to expectant mothers and to mothers of infants and young children who have been found guilty of infringing the penal law and shall in particular: (i) ensure that a non-custodial sentence will always be first considered when sentencing such mothers; (ii) establish and promote measures alternative to institutional confinement for the treatment of such mothers; (iii) establish special alternative institutions for holding such mothers; (iv) ensure that a mother shall not be imprisoned with her child; (v) the essential aim of the penitentiary system will be the reformation, the integration of the mother to the family and social rehabilitation. 10) Appeal a) Everyone convicted in a criminal proceeding shall have the right to review of his or her conviction and sentence by a higher tribunal. (i) The right to appeal shall provide a genuine and timely review of the case, including the facts and the law. If exculpatory evidence is discovered after a person is tried and convicted, the right to appeal or some other post-conviction procedure shall permit the possibility of correcting the verdict if the new evidence would have been likely to change the verdict, unless it is proved that the non-disclosure of the unknown fact in time is wholly or partly attributable to the accused. (ii) A judicial body shall stay execution of any sentence while the case is on appeal to a higher tribunal. b) Anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to appeal to a judicial body of higher jurisdiction, and States should take steps to ensure that such appeals become mandatory. c) When a person has by a final decision been convicted of a criminal offence and when subsequently his or her conviction has been reversed or he or she has been pardoned on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that there has been a miscarriage of justice, the person who has suffered punishment as a result of such conviction shall be compensated according to law. d) Every person convicted of a crime has a right to seek pardon or commutation of sentence. Clemency, commutation of sentence, amnesty or pardon may be granted in all cases of capital punishment. O. CHILDREN AND THE RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL a) In accordance with the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, a child is any person under the age of 18. States must ensure that domestic legislation recognises any person under the age of 18 as a child. b) Children are entitled to all the fair trial guarantees applicable to adults and to some additional special protection.