Opinions of 'foreign country' judges and some new sentencing guidelines in Bophuthatswana

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Periodical article

Title:	Opinions of 'foreign country' judges and some new sentencing guidelines in Bophuthatswana
Author:	Mihálik, János
Year:	1989
Periodical:	The Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa
Volume:	22
Issue:	1
Pages:	93-103
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	South Africa Bophuthatswana
Subjects:	judgments judges
Abstract:	In the five years after 1977, when Bophuthatswana was proclaimed an independent and sovereign State by the South African parliament, much was done to steer the Bophuthatswana courts away from the prevailing South African sentencing practices. Persistent attempts were made to encourage the lower courts to implement compensation rather than imprisonment and fines. However, as in South Africa, a disturbingly high number of death sentences are still imposed by the judiciary and high levels of overcrowding of prisons are annually reported. In a recent Bophuthatswana Appellate Division decision a lengthy prison sentence imposed by a judge of the General Division of the Supreme Court, after consultation with a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division, was set aside and substituted with a fine of R2000. One of the arguments used by the Appellate Court was the 'foreignness' of the consulted (South African) judge. This seems to be a new principle in sentencing, and a deliberate step to develop distinct sentencing policies. Notes, ref.