What the Act is
The Criminal Act of 1991 was enacted under the government that took power in 1989 and codified criminal law on an Islamic basis for the whole of Sudan. It contains ordinary offences, such as theft, fraud and assault, alongside the hudud offences whose penalties Sharia fixes: theft punished by amputation, armed robbery punished by cross-limb amputation under Article 168, adultery, drinking alcohol, and, until 2020, apostasy. Its provisions apply alongside the Constitution and are interpreted by criminal courts whose judges are trained in Sharia, which is why Prof. Jok's 2020 article describes the conflict of laws that arises when the same acts are charged under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Who was punished under it
Between 1983, when Sharia-based penalties were first introduced, and 2019, Sudanese courts sentenced people to cross-limb amputation under Article 168(b), and the sentences were carried out. Prof. Jok's 2021 article in the Journal of Disability & Religion, The Right of the Amputees in the Sharia Courts of Sudan under International Law, concerns those people, who are left unable to work, and argues that international law obliges the state to secure their right to food. Flogging sentences for alcohol and for offences against public order fell disproportionately on women, on non-Muslims from the south and the Nuba Mountains, and on the poor.
What changed in 2020, and what did not
After the fall of Omar Al Bashir in April 2019, the transitional government amended the Act in July 2020: the offence of apostasy was repealed, non-Muslims were exempted from the alcohol provisions, and female genital mutilation was criminalised. The core of the Act, including the hudud penalties for theft, armed robbery and adultery, remained. The military coup of October 2021 ended the transition, and since the war that began in April 2023 the courts themselves function unevenly across the country, so the question in an individual case is less what the statute says than what a given person would actually face, from the courts, the security services and the armed groups controlling the area.
What an asylum case needs
Immigration lawyers and tribunals in Finland, the United Kingdom, the United States and elsewhere need to know whether a particular applicant, with a particular history, faces a real risk under this law: a convert from Islam, a woman accused of adultery or of improper dress, a man charged with theft, a southerner or a Nuba in territory where the Act is enforced. A general country report does not answer that. A written opinion from a lawyer who knows the Act, the courts and the current state of enforcement does. Prof. Jok writes such opinions for the lawyer handling the case; see expert opinions.
Questions people ask
Is apostasy still a crime in Sudan?
The offence of apostasy in the Criminal Act of 1991 was repealed by the July 2020 amendments. Whether a convert is safe in practice depends on where in Sudan they are, who controls the area, and the attitude of their family and community, which is why individual assessment matters.
Does Sudan still carry out amputation sentences?
The hudud penalties for theft and armed robbery remain in the Act. Sentences were carried out between 1983 and 2019; how often they are imposed and executed today varies with the collapse of normal court operation since April 2023.
Can a Sudanese lawyer give an expert opinion for a UK or Finnish asylum case?
Yes. Tribunals and courts accept written opinions from lawyers qualified in the law of the applicant's country of origin, provided the opinion sets out the author's qualifications, the sources relied on and the reasoning. Prof. Jok writes such opinions in English.
