Yvonne Gilford, a 55 year old senior nurse, went to Saudi Arabia on a one year contract that tragically became a life sentence. On December 12th 1996 she was found stabbed, beaten and suffocated at her nurse’s quarters in the King Fahd Military Hospital in the eastern oil city of Dhahran. It was alleged by the Saudi police that she was killed in an argument with two British nurses, Lucille McLauchlan, 31, and Deborah Parry, 38. On Christmas Eve the two nurses were charged with murder after making a confession, which they later retracted. They claimed they confessed to the crime because of undue pressure. Saudi Arabia is a Middle East monarchy, with a government founded under the law of Islam. Laws are not made by a legislature (i.e. the parliament), but directly by the King and his ministers. The judicial system is also based on the law of Islam, derived from the holy book of Islam, the Koran. The major court is the Supreme Court of Justice. Yvonne Gilford’s brother Frank is the resident of a small town 220km north of Adelaide, hardly the setting for momentous decisions. Nevertheless, under Saudi law, Frank Gilford could be custodian of the two nurses’ fate. Under Islamic law, a murder victim’s family has a choice of penalty if there is a conviction – death (by beheading), forgiveness, or acceptance of "blood money". Islamic law states that the family’s decision on the penalty must be unanimous. In August the accused nurses’ lawyers made an application to the South Australian Supreme Court to stop Frank Gilford speaking for the family because his mother Muriel suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. In other words, they claimed she is not mentally competent to be one of the members of the family who decide the nurse’s fate, so the vote cannot be unanimous. The court agreed to issue an injunction –this is a court order that stops a person from doing something. In this case it meant that Frank Gilford could not speak for the family until his mother's mental state had been assessed. Apparently Frank Gilford holds his mother’s power of attorney – this is a written document that allows one person to make certain decisions on behalf of another person. At the end of September the Court case looking at the validity of her power of attorney was adjourned until November. An application was made to the South Australian Guardianship Board to enable a guardian to be appointed for Muriel Gilford. This person would then act as her substitute decision-maker and can legally speak on her behalf. Guardianship is a legal process that allows decisions to be made for people who are unable to make decisions for themselves. This might be because of age, injury, intellectual disability or mental illness – in Muriel Gilford’s case it was dementia. The Board appointed a public guardian to be her substitute decision-maker. For more information about guardianship, read our Guardianship and Administration topic. At the end of September the Australian and British media reported that the Saudi Court had decided to execute Parry and sentence McLaughlan to jail and flogging. Parry was found guilty of intentionally murdering Gilford and McLaughlan was found guilty of being an accessory to the murder. Under strict Islamic law the execution is by beheading. An appeals court in the Saudi capital of Riyadh must automatically conduct a review of the case. Read this: The legal information contained above is intended to be general information about the law. It is not a substitute for legal and other professional advice. Lawscape Communications P/L does not accept responsibility for loss to any person, who either acts or does not act because of this information. |