Taazir death verdicts must be unanimous

The Shoura Council has made a major decision toward reducing instances of capital punishment in the Kingdom by stipulating that a death sentence issued on the basis of a judge’s discretionary power becomes final only if the verdict is unanimous. “The ruling of an appeals court on a lower court’s decision to kill by execution, stoning, amputation, or qisas (legally entitled retribution for a victim or his relatives) etc… will not be final except after it is endorsed by the Supreme Court. The court’s endorsement of the death penalty on taazir (a judge’s discretion in situations where no religious punishment is prescribed) should not be made final unless it is by unanimous agreement,” the council stipulated while discussing recommendations on criminal regulations made by the Committee for Islamic & Governmental Affairs. The council voted down the committee’s recommendation that the implementation of taazir for death punishment can be implemented even if the decision is made without unanimity. Another major decision made by the council on Sunday was its refusal to authorize a court to extend the period of detention of suspects by more than six months. The meeting, presided over by its Chairman Abdullah Al-Asheikh, also affirmed the council’s earlier position that in cases where detention of a suspect for long periods are required, the authorities concerned should approach the chairman of the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution who has the authority to extend the period for not more than 30 continuous days on condition that the total period of detention from the date of a suspect’s arrest should not exceed 180 days. After that the suspect should immediately be brought before a court or released, the council decided. The council also criticized the Ministry of Education for presenting its annual report whose quality was considered below the expected level, and failed to deal realistically with the needs of students and teachers. A member of the council, Ihsan Abdul Jawad, called the 2010 report “not serious” while explaining an expenditure of billions of riyals. He said some educational systems, while successful in other countries having different circumstances than the Kingdom, may not be successful in Saudi Arabia, Al-Watan daily reported yesterday. “Is it logical to ask students who have advanced systems, including the Internet, to go back to a school system of black boards and pens? Is it reasonable to burden the minds of our students with loads of the ministry’s textbooks and cause the state to lose billions annually as the academic syllabi are thrown to the waste basket at the end of the year?” he asked, blaming the ministry for not updating the education system to suit the challenges of the time. From arabnews