He said the objections dealt with the amendment that gives the Public Prosecutor the power to exercise his discretion instead of such discretion being given to the courts.
“The whole idea to amend the Dangerous Drugs Act was as we had always envisioned it, to give back to the courts the discretion to allow a life imprisonment sentence instead of the death penalty.
“In other words, it was to abolish the mandatory death sentence which had been made law since 1983.
“However, in the amendments that have been proposed, it states that the Public Prosecutor has to first issue a certificate, and only then can the judge exercise his or her discretion when sentencing the accused,” he said at a press conference in Parliament here today.
The second objection dealt with the bill not applying retrospectively to those who are already on death row said Ramkarpal.
“At the moment there are 700-800 people on death row and all of them have been convicted. This means that the Dangerous Drugs Act amendment does not apply to those already on death row and those who have been convicted.
“Our objection deals with the retrospective element not being added to the amendment. This is not a political issue but a legal one which involves many victims like drug mules that we have to consider. I hope the government can consider these objections seriously.”
On Aug 7, the cabinet unanimously agreed to allow judges to impose an appropriate penalty on drug traffickers instead of the mandatory death sentence under an amendment to Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.