Life in prison inmates should get presidential pardon

The Constitutional Court has ruled that inmates sentenced to life in prison must be considered for presidential pardon.

In a landmark judgment handed down this morning, Justice Bharat Patel sitting with eight other judges of the Constitutional Court declared it unconstitutional to sentence convicted murderers to life without any hope for parole or release on licence.

The court described it as a violation of human dignity and amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in breach of Sections 51 and 53 of the Constitution.

In the past, inmates were not considered when others with lesser sentences were freed on presidential amnesty.

Details to follow…