Criminal
Penal Code offences with the mandatory death penalty struck down
The Penal Code (Cap 7:01) contains the principal offences. Kafantayeni v Attorney General (2007) held the mandatory death penalty for murder unconstitutional, requiring individualised sentencing, and a large resentencing exercise followed. The death penalty remains on the statute book but no execution has been carried out since 1992.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Magistrates' courts try most offences; the High Court hears homicide; the Supreme Court of Appeal is final.
- Deadline — Arrested person brought before a court within 48 hours
Governing law
- Penal CodeCap 7:01
- Criminal Procedure and Evidence CodeCap 8:01
In practice
Kafantayeni is the significant decision: by removing the mandatory element rather than the penalty itself, it required Malawi to resentence every prisoner condemned under the old rule, and it has been cited across the region in challenges to mandatory sentencing.