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Madagascar Penal System
The Malagasy Penal Code is based primarily on French
penal
codes and procedures and has been somewhat influenced by
Malagasy
customary law. The Malagasy Penal Code affords the accused
most
of the rights and protections granted under French and
Western
laws. The most severe punishments are death and forced
labor for
life.
Madagascar has three levels of courts. Lower courts are
responsible for civil and criminal cases carrying limited
fines
and sentences. The Court of Appeals includes a criminal
court for
cases carrying sentences of five years or more. The
Supreme Court
functions as the highest court in the country. Also, there
is a
separate and autonomous Constitutional High Court that
reviews
laws, decrees, and ordinances and monitors elections and
certifies their results. A military court has jurisdiction
over
all cases that involve national security.
Madagascar has a nationwide prison system. Each
province has
a central prison for inmates serving sentences of less
than five
years. At the seats of various courts, there also are at
least
twenty-five lesser prisons for individuals serving terms
of less
than two years and for prisoners awaiting trial. Courts at
the
local (subprefecture) level maintain jails for lesser
offenders
serving sentences of up to six months. Women normally
serve long
sentences in the Central Prison (Maison Centrale) in
Antananarivo.
Conditions in Malagasy prisons are harsh. Cells built
for one
often house up to eight prisoners. Family members of
prisoners
need to augment the inadequate daily food rations.
Prisoners
without relatives often go for several days without food.
Inmates
also suffer from numerous medical problems that are not
usually
treated, including malnutrition, infections, malaria, and
tuberculosis. Children normally live in prisons with their
mothers, and female inmates engage in prostitution in
collusion
with guards.
Data as of August 1994
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