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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Sudan
Index
Prior to Nimeiri's consolidation of the court system in 1980,
the judiciary consisted of two separate divisions: the Civil
Division headed by the chief justice and the Sharia Division
headed by the chief qadi. The civil courts considered all
criminal and most civil cases. The sharia courts, comprising
religious judges trained in Islamic law, adjudicated for Muslims
matters of personal status, such as inheritance, marriage,
divorce, and family relations. The 1980 executive order
consolidating civil and sharia courts created a single High Court
of Appeal to replace both the former Supreme Court and the Office
of Chief Qadi. Initially, judges were required to apply civil and
sharia law as if they were a single code of law. Since 1983,
however, the High Court of Appeal, as well as all lower courts,
were required to apply Islamic law exclusively. Following the
overthrow of Nimeiri in 1985, courts suspended the application of
the harsher hudud punishments in criminal cases. Each
province or district had its own appeal, major, and magistrates'
courts. Serious crimes were tried by major courts convened by
specific order of the provincial judge and consisted of a bench
of three magistrates. Magistrates were of first, second, or third
class and had corresponding gradations of criminal jurisdictions.
Local magistrates generally advised the police on whether to
prepare for a prosecution, determined whether a case should go to
trial (and on what charges and at what level), and often acted in
practice as legal advisers to defendants.
In theory the judiciary was independent in the performance of
its duties, but since 1958 the country's various military
governments have routinely interfered with the judicial process.
For example, in July 1989 the RCC-NS issued Decree Number 3,
which gave the president the power to appoint and dismiss all
judges. Under the authority of this decree, Bashir dismissed
scores of judges, reportedly because they were insufficiently
committed to applying the sharia in their decisions, and replaced
them with supporters of the NIF. One of the most extensive
judicial firings occurred during September 1990, when more than
seventy judges were dismissed. The effect of these actions was to
make the judiciary responsible to the president.
In November 1989, the RCC-NS established special courts to
investigate and try a wide range of violations, including
particularly security offenses and corruption. The special
security courts handled cases that dealt primarily with
violations of the emergency laws issued by the RCC-NS. The
special corruption courts initially investigated charges that the
state brought against officials of the Sadiq al Mahdi government,
but since 1990 they have dealt with cases of embezzlement,
foreign-currency smuggling, and black market profiteering.
Critics charged that there was a lack of due process in the
special courts and that the regime used them as a means of
silencing political opponents. Judges sitting in the special
courts included both civilians and military officers.
Data as of June 1991
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