Criminal
Código Penal 2003 with the death penalty abolished since 1981
The Código Penal of 2003, Portuguese in structure, governs. Cabo Verde abolished the death penalty in 1981, among the earliest in Africa. Narcotics transit across the Atlantic is the principal enforcement challenge.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Tribunais de Comarca and the Supremo Tribunal de Justiça; a specialised unit handles narcotics trafficking.
- Deadline — Detention before judicial presentation: 48 hours
- Deadline — Prescription: by offence class under the Código Penal
Governing law
- Decreto-Legislativo n° 4/2003 que aprova o Código Penal
- Decreto-Legislativo n° 5/2015 que aprova o Código de Processo Penal
- Lei n° 78/IV/93 sobre o combate ao tráfico de estupefacientes
In practice
Abolition of capital punishment in 1981 placed Cabo Verde decades ahead of most of the continent, and the criminal justice system operates with functioning defence rights and low violent crime by regional standards. Its mid-Atlantic position makes it a transit point for cocaine, and maritime interdiction cooperation with European navies is the main international dimension of its criminal law.