Severity of multiple punishments deployed by magistrate and customary courts against common offences in Botswana: A comparative analysis

Ikanyeng S. Malila

University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana

Abstract:

There are persistent and growing concerns about the degree of divergence in the standards of justice rendered by customary and common law courts in criminal cases in Botswana. The present article focuses on severity of multiple punishments imposed by customary and magistrate courts on offenders in relation to selected offences that are triable in either type of court. It presents results of an investigation that was part of a large study on sentencing outcomes of customary and magistrate courts in two large population centres in Botswana. The results of the study show that there were significant differences in the severity and combinations of multiple punishments deployed by customary and magistrate courts against similar categories of offences triable in either type of court. To that extent the results of the study would seem to suggest that some of the concerns regarding the lack of comparability of justice in customary and the general/common law courts may be justified.

Keyword:

Measurement, Offence Seriousness, Punishment Severity.