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Sudan
The Courts
Prior to Nimeiri's consolidation of the court system in 1980,
the judiciary consisted of two separate divisions: the Civil Division
headed by the chief justice and the Sharia Division headed by
the chief qadi. The civil courts considered all criminal and most
civil cases. The sharia courts, comprising religious judges trained
in Islamic law, adjudicated for Muslims matters of personal status,
such as inheritance, marriage, divorce, and family relations.
The 1980 executive order consolidating civil and sharia courts
created a single High Court of Appeal to replace both the former
Supreme Court and the Office of Chief Qadi. Initially, judges
were required to apply civil and sharia law as if they were a
single code of law. Since 1983, however, the High Court of Appeal,
as well as all lower courts, were required to apply Islamic law
exclusively. Following the overthrow of Nimeiri in 1985, courts
suspended the application of the harsher hudud punishments
in criminal cases. Each province or district had its own appeal,
major, and magistrates' courts. Serious crimes were tried by major
courts convened by specific order of the provincial judge and
consisted of a bench of three magistrates. Magistrates were of
first, second, or third class and had corresponding gradations
of criminal jurisdictions. Local magistrates generally advised
the police on whether to prepare for a prosecution, determined
whether a case should go to trial (and on what charges and at
what level), and often acted in practice as legal advisers to
defendants.
In theory the judiciary was independent in the performance of
its duties, but since 1958 the country's various military governments
have routinely interfered with the judicial process. For example,
in July 1989 the RCC-NS issued Decree Number 3, which gave the
president the power to appoint and dismiss all judges. Under the
authority of this decree, Bashir dismissed scores of judges, reportedly
because they were insufficiently committed to applying the sharia
in their decisions, and replaced them with supporters of the NIF.
One of the most extensive judicial firings occurred during September
1990, when more than seventy judges were dismissed. The effect
of these actions was to make the judiciary responsible to the
president.
In November 1989, the RCC-NS established special courts to investigate
and try a wide range of violations, including particularly security
offenses and corruption. The special security courts handled cases
that dealt primarily with violations of the emergency laws issued
by the RCC-NS. The special corruption courts initially investigated
charges that the state brought against officials of the Sadiq
al Mahdi government, but since 1990 they have dealt with cases
of embezzlement, foreign-currency smuggling, and black market
profiteering. Critics charged that there was a lack of due process
in the special courts and that the regime used them as a means
of silencing political opponents. Judges sitting in the special
courts included both civilians and military officers.
Data as of June 1991
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