The efficacy of the individual attitudes in court decisions on the conformity of the death penalty. A case study of Uganda.
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Date
2015-06
Authors
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Publisher
Kampala International University, School of law.
Abstract
This study aimed at investigating the role of public opinion in court decisions on the
legality of the death penalty with a view to determining the utility of public opinion in
deciding death penalty cases. The objectives of the study are: are to examine
literature on what public opinion is and how it is determined, to find out the role
public opinion ought to play in general court decisions and specifically those on the
legality of the death penalty. to critically examine court practice regarding the utility
of public opinion relating to death penalty cases in the two case studies of Uganda and
South Africa and to make recommendations that would be useful not only for Uganda
and South Africa, but for other countries in similar situations. Uganda has been
under limited operation of political parties, but is now a multiparty system from 2005.
The current constitution was promulgated in 1995, and it provides for an executive
president, to be elected every 5 years.
It is also argued that making court decisions without public support would undermine
the confidence in the law and perhaps lead to private vengeance as it is undemocratic
to ignore strong public sentiment.
Public opinion is difficult to define given the attempt in chapter one. Part of the public
opinion finds its way into the judicial system and finally the court decision circles.
This then causes the debate as to whether courts should consider public opiniC'n when
deciding cases.
According to the existing standards on judicial independence as illustrated in chapter
two, courts should not decide according to public perceptions. This difference in
approach can be explained from the history and transitional contexts in the respective
countries.
This study has revealed that there is a dilemma in deciding the role public opmwn
should play in court decisions. Part of the reasons is that public opinion is not static.
Research shows that attitudes towards death penalty can change with more
knowledge of facts.
Description
A research dissertation submitted to the School of Law in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of a Bachelors Degree in Laws of Kampala International University.
Keywords
Death Penalty., Individual Attitudes, Court Decisions, Uganda