Judgment No CCZ 8/16 14 Const. Application No CCZ 48/15 servitude as it has developed over the years within the broad framework of societal protection: firstly, the infliction of a punishment that is condign to the nature and gravity of the crime committed; secondly, the rehabilitative reorientation of the offender to render him fit and suitable for societal reintegration as a law-abiding and self-supporting citizen. These two objectives are intrinsically interconnected, so that the unavoidable cruelty of incarceration without the correlative beneficence of rehabilitation would unnecessarily aggravate and dehumanise the delivery of corrective justice. In short, every prisoner should be able to perceive and believe in the possibility of his eventual liberation after a period of incarceration befitting his crime and his capacity for reformation. Having regard to our own constitutional provisions, viz. ss 50 and 227(1) which establish revised liberal guidelines on the treatment of prisoners and the rehabilitative responsibilities of correctional institutions, I see no reason to depart from the foreign and international jurisprudence that has developed on the subject over the past sixty years. I accordingly conclude that an irreducible life sentence without the possibility of release in appropriate circumstances, constitutes a violation of human dignity and amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in breach of ss 51 and 53 of the Constitution. For the sake of completeness, it is necessary to mention in passing section 344A of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act [Chapter 9:07] which stipulates that: “Subject to any other law, the effect of a sentence of imprisonment for life imposed on or after the date of commencement of the Criminal Procedure and