‘right to life, as envisaged by international Conventions, it is simply
refuted by case law of comparable international Courts; particularly
The European Court of Human Rights (which cites Article 2 of the
European Convention, which after recognising the right to life, soon
admits the death sentence under certain conditions), and the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights (Judgment on Neira Algeria and others
Vs. Peru 19th January 1995 series C. No 20.
The abolition of death sentence may be envisaged as a future project and
as an ideal measure to be adopted, but nothing in law as of now, permits one
to say that the Respondent violates human rights by maintaining the death
penalty. This Court deals with lex lata and not lex feranda (i.e. law as it is not
law as it ought to be).
Accordingly, mere existence of the death penalty in the Criminal laws of the
Defendant does not amount to the violation of the human rights of the Plaintiff
under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights or any known International human
rights instrument to which the Defendant is a party and therefore the action
must be dismissed.
9. DECISION :
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