with the services of a legal aid counsel or a private legal practitioner may be
instructed to represent the applicant.5
6.4
The Namibian Police Force
There are 132 police stations and substations in the country. Eight new
police stations were built during the financial year 2012/2013, and 22 more
police stations will be built during 2013/2014 financial year.
The
Government aims to build more police stations closer to people, in order to
bring the functions and Police services closer to the people.
6.5
Criminal justice system
Article 12 of the Namibian Constitution provides for the rights to a fair trial.
The State bears the burden to prove the guilt of an accused person beyond
reasonable doubt.
The Criminal Procedure Act, Act No 51 of 1977 as amended (the CPA), is the
principal piece of legislation which governs criminal procedure in the
Namibian legal system including regulating search and seizure, arrest, the
filing of charges, bail, plea, testimony of witnesses and the law of evidence, as
well as appeal. In terms of section 73 of the CPA, an accused who is arrested
shall be entitled to the assistance of his/her legal representative from the
time of his/her arrest to the finalization of the case.
7.
ARTICLE 4 AND 5: THE RIGHTS TO LIFE, LIBERTY AND RESPECT FOR
DIGNITY
Namibia has no death penalty in its statutes. Article 6 of the Namibian
Constitution has expressly abolished the death sentence. Namibia also has
an exclusionary clause in the Extradition Act, Act No. 11 of 1996 which
prohibit the extradition of a Namibian citizen or any other person finding
him/herself within the borders of Namibia in the event that such person
might face the sentence of death upon conviction.
7.1
Torture, inhuman and degrading treatment
The Bill to criminalize torture has not yet been finalized and is still with the
Law Reform and Development Commission. Consultations on final draft are
ongoing and the LRDC will engage a specialist drafter to finalize the Bill.
5
See statistics of Legal Aid cases attached hereto marked as annexure “D”
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