Criminal
Code pénal 2019 with the death penalty abolished since 2000
Loi n° 2019-574 recodified criminal law. The death penalty was abolished by the 2000 Constitution and the abolition is retained in the 2016 text. A specialised cellule handles economic and financial crime, and post-conflict prosecutions have proceeded slowly.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Tribunal de première instance and Cour d'assises; the Cour de cassation reviews criminal appeals.
- Deadline — Garde à vue: 48 hours, extendable by the procureur
- Deadline — Prescription: 10 years for crimes, 3 years for délits
Governing law
- Loi n° 2019-574 du 26 juin 2019 portant Code pénal
- Loi n° 2018-975 portant Code de procédure pénale
- Loi n° 2016-992 relative à la lutte contre le terrorisme
In practice
Accountability for the 2010-2011 post-electoral violence is the defining issue in Ivorian criminal law. The ICC tried and acquitted Laurent Gbagbo, domestic prosecutions have been criticised as one-sided, and a 2018 amnesty covering some post-electoral offences drew objections from victims' groups. The 2019 Code itself is a conventional francophone recodification.