{UAH} Suspending Parliament was unlawful, court rules
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R (MILLER) V SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EXITING THE EUROPEAN UNION.- George Okello, LLM. M.Phil
The Supreme Court of the UK ( formerly known as the Judicial Committee of The House Of Lords) has over the years made some landmark decisions that have changed or settled legal jurisprudence and influenced legislation the world over. One such case was the EX PARTE PINOCHET (1998). Will its bombshell decision in case of R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union- The Brexit Case- have the same impact as the Pinochet case had?
THE PINOCHET CASE.
Previously International law held that a Head of State enjoyed immunity from prosecution for all crimes he may have committed while head of state. This position, though reflected in Customary International law, was increasingly challenged as heads of state in numerous countries in the world continued to hide under the cover of immunity to commit horrendous crimes against their citizens. How International law could remove this immunity became the pre-occupation of international lawyers, jurists and human rights advocates over the decades leading up to the Pinochet case
The doctrine of state immunity by a sitting head of state was finally ended by the UK House of Lords on on 25 November 1998.
1. CUSTOMARY INTERNATIONAL LAW.
The customary International law position, which now applies to Uganda, is now contained in the landmark EX PARTE PINOCHET case, which was decided by the UK House of Lords (Supreme Court) in 1998. This was probably the most important decision of the century
In the case, the court decided that the principle of state immunity no longer applied in customary International law, with regard to certain offences that offend the human conscience. These include Genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
General Augusto Pinochet, the former dictator of Chile, had been arrested while on a hospital visit to the UK on a warrant by Spain to have him extradited to stand trial for the murder and torture of thousands of people during his murderous tyranny and brutal misrule which lasted between 1973 and 1990.Pinochet argued in his defence against extradition that, as a former head of state, he enjoyed immunity from prosecution for any offences he may have committed in his capacity as Head of State.
The court rejected Pinochet's argument, ruling that murdering innocent civilians does not form any part of the duty of a head of state, and that offences of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity are so grotesque, egregious and offensive to the human conscience that they cannot form any part of a duty of a head of state for which he can claim immunity.
The court decided that any competent court in the world has jurisdiction to put the offender on trial. In effect, the case threw out the principle of immunity for a head of state, and secondly, it established the principle of universality of jurisdiction, namely, a human rights abuser, mass murderer, and war criminal like Benjamin Netanyahu or Yoseri Kayibanda Rubatasirwa AKA Kaguta Museveni can be tried by any competent court in the world, even though their crimes did not take place within the jurisdictions of those courts, or in this case, Spain.
2. INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT.
The establishment of the International Criminal Court - ICC- by the Treaty of Rome, removed state immunity from heads of state who violate human rights. Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is for eg serving a long prison sentence in a UK jail for human rights abuses he perpetrated in Liberia. Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo was also tried and convicted by the ICC, although he has been released on appeal. The recently deposed Sudanese dictator Omar Bashir has a warrant of arrest pending against him, issued by the ICC for the genocide he committed in Darfur.There is believed to be a secret agreement between the UN, the ICC and the British government for Kayibanda RUBATASIRWA Museveni to serve his life sentence in a UK jail, probably the Belmarsh High Security Prison in Woolwich, after he is tried and convicted of the crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for which he has numerous charges pending before the ICC.
Will the case of R (MILLER) V SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EXITING THE EUROPEAN UNION. have the same impact that the Pinochet case had worldwide, by strengthening the Rule of Law and Sovereigniity of parliament in lawless countries like Uganda run at the whim of brutal tyrants?
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