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EFTA00031733 | EFTA00031783 BABAR AHMAD AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT 49 Kaficaris from being without hope of release were not available in Mauritius. The Mauritian Supreme Court had interpreted such a sentence as condemning de Boucherville to penal servitude for the rest of his life and the provisions of the relevant legislation on parole and remission did not apply. This meant the sentence was manifestly disproportionate and arbitrary and so contrary to section 10 of the Mauritian Constitution (provisions to secure protection of law, including the right to a fair trial). It had also been argued by the appellant that the mandatory nature of the sentence violated section 7 of the Constitution (the prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading punishment or other such treatment). In light of its conclusion on section 10, the Committee considered it unnecessary to decide that question or to consider the relevance of the possibility of release under section 75 (the presidential prerogative of mercy). It did, however, find that the safeguards available in Cyprus (in the form of the AttorneyGeneral's powers to recommend release and the President's powers to commute sentences or decree release) were not available in Mauritius. It also acknowledged the appellant's argument that, as with the mandatory sentence of death it had considered in Reyes, a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment did not allow for consideration of the facts of the case. The Privy Council also considered any differences between mandatory sentences of death and life imprisonment could be exaggerated and, to this end, quoted with approval the dicta of Lord Justice Laws in Wellington and Lord Bingham in Lichniak (at paragraphs 65 and 142 above). 153. In State v. Philibert [2007] SCJ 274, the Supreme Court of Mauritius held that a mandatory sentence of 45 years' imprisonment for murder amounted to inhuman or degrading treatment in violation of section 7 on the grounds that it was disproportionate. 154. In State v. Tcoeib [1997] 1 LRC 90 the Namibian Supreme Court considered the imposition of a discretionary life sentence to be compatible with section 8 of the country's constitution (subsection (c) of which is identical to Article 3 of the Convention). Chief Justice Mahomed, for the unanimous court, found the relevant statutory release scheme to be sufficient but observed that if release depended on the "capricious exercise" of the discretion of the prison or executive authorities, the hope of release would be "too faint and much too unpredictable" for the prisoner to retain the dignity required by section 8. It was also observed that life imprisonment could amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment if it was grossly disproportionate to the severity of the offence. The High Court of Namibia found mandatory minimum sentences for robbery and possession of firearms to be grossly disproportionate in State v. Vries 1997 4 LRC 1 and State v Likuwa [2000] 1 LRC 600. 155. In Lau Cheong and Another v. HKSAR [2002] 5 HKCFAR 415, [2002] 2 HKLRD 612, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal rejected a challenge to the mandatory life sentence for murder. It found that the EFTA00031783
February 13, 2026 at 9:56 AM