Drug trafficking offences in the criminal court : an analysis of the judgments of the criminal court in relation to drug trafficking offences

Abstract

This dissertation evaluates the particular punishment that the Criminal Court has meted in drug trafficking cases and this in accordance to various variables that the Court must take into consideration. The main aim of this study is the assessment of the judgments of the Criminal Court in relation to drug trafficking offences between the year 2005 and 2020. Apart from the introduction, this dissertation is divided into four distinct chapters. In the introduction it provides an overview of the aims and objectives of the research together with the methodology used for analysis. Chapter one evaluates the legal provisions that are relevant to drug trafficking offences, mainly focusing on the offences of aggravated possession and drug trafficking. Chapter two focuses on the changes that the punishment for these offences has undergone ever since the inception of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance in 1939, together with an analysis of the mitigating and aggravating circumstances introduced along the years. Chapter three focuses on the results of the research conducted and also presents a graphical representation of the judgments that make up the data set for this study. In conclusion, chapter four presents a discussion of the results found and submits recommendations that can be taken into consideration at both policy level and in terms of further studies. From the results produced by this research it can be concluded that, apart from the fact that the Court imposes a lesser punishment for the trafficking of cannabis with regard to other drugs, there is no set pattern in the judgments of the Court vis a vis the quantity of drugs in question. In its conclusion this dissertation amongst other things questions whether the punishment of life imprisonment should really be part of our law in relation to drug trafficking, especially since it has never been applied to the cases in question.