Death penalty to be fixed

By HELEN TARAWA
The Constitutional and Law Reform Commission (CLRC) has been directed to look into the imposition of the death penalty.
Minster for Justice and Attorney-General Davis Steven told The National that the death penalty has always been a part of the country’s laws.
Steven said the previous government had provided funding but it was used by the government agencies to look into the different types of execution.
Steven has received a report from an inquiry “and all that remains to be done is for the execution to take place. So I am going to have to make it happen”.
“Those are administrative matters that the execution agency must be guided on. So the Government has provided that avenue and they have done their research,” he said.
“And I hope they have satisfied themselves on the best approach.
“I’m instructing the CLRC to look at this particular issue as an assignment because we can (continue to) argue about the rights and wrongs.
“The morale of it is that the death penalty has been part of our laws since independence.”
Steven said if the law had to be reviewed, there would be public consultation.
“But as long as these laws are in the books, the judges are entitled to impose it and they have already done so,” Steven said.
“It’s within the rights of those convicted to expect these decisions to be implemented.
“We need to up our punitive aspect of our laws to create deterrence for lawlessness.”