Criminal
Criminal Code on the received English model, with a 2018 moratorium on the death penalty
The Criminal Code (Cap 10:01) codifies offences on the English colonial pattern, with the Criminal Procedure Code governing process. The Gambia declared a moratorium on executions in 2018 and acceded to the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, though the death penalty remains in the Code pending abolition.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Magistrates' Courts and High Court; Special Criminal Court for economic crimes; Court of Appeal and Supreme Court above.
Governing law
- Criminal Code, Cap 10:01 — Colonial-model code; death penalty retained subject to moratorium.
- Criminal Procedure Code, Cap 12:01
- Women's (Amendment) Act, 2015 — Criminalised FGM; repeal attempt defeated in 2024.
In practice
The Criminal Code is a colonial-era code, amended over time, covering offences against the person, property, public order and morality. The Criminal Procedure Code provides for arrest, bail, committal and trial, and the Constitution requires that a detained person be brought before a court within 72 hours. In 2018 the government declared an official moratorium on the death penalty and acceded to the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, committing to abolition; the penalty remains in the Criminal Code, so the position is a treaty commitment plus moratorium rather than statutory abolition — a distinction that matters for any accurate statement of Gambian law. The Sexual Offences Act 2013 and the Women's (Amendment) Act 2015 modernised sexual offences and criminalised female genital mutilation, with the 2015 amendment prescribing imprisonment and a fine; a 2024 parliamentary attempt to repeal the FGM prohibition was defeated. The 2013 amendments criminalising 'aggravated homosexuality' with life imprisonment remain in force.