Protecting Due Process Rights of the Mentally Disabled

This article looks into the current status of the defence of insanity for capital punishment in Pakistan. Particular emphasis will be added to Imdad Ali’s case, decided by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Although the execution of the sentence given to the convict was later stayed, the reasoning advanced by the court in its earlier order deserves critical appraisal to draw attention to the limitations of the legal regime regulating trials of suspects suffering from mental illnesses while charged with a capital offence.
It will be argued that the protection afforded to the mentally sick is insufficient and needs to be revisited, keeping in view the latest advancements in the law regulating the defence of insanity and human rights law in general. The existing law of Pakistan accepts insanity as a defence only if the suspect is insane at the time of the commission of crime; it takes no account of insanity at the stages of arrest, trial and punishment. This approach leaves suspects vulnerable to false confessions and coercion. Moreover, Pakistan is a party to the ICCPR 1966 and CRPD 2011, both of which oblige signatories to ensure that no discrimination is faced by those subject to their justice system, based upon a disability.

The author holds a PhD in Law from University of Glasgow UK and is currently a Principal/ Associate Professor at University Law College, University of Sargodha.