Family
Three regimes with Cadi courts holding exclusive jurisdiction over Muslim personal law
Civil, Islamic and customary marriage coexist. Section 7 of the Constitution recognises Sharia and customary law as sources, and the Cadi courts have jurisdiction over marriage, divorce and inheritance for Muslims — who are the large majority — making Islamic personal law the dominant family law regime in practice.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Cadi Court and Cadi Appeals Panel for Muslim personal law; High Court for civil marriage; District Tribunals for customary law.
Governing law
- Constitution of The Gambia, 1997 (s.7 — Sharia and customary law as sources of law.)
- Women's Act, 2010 — Domesticates CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol.
- Children's Act, 2005 — Age of majority 18; prohibits child marriage and betrothal.
- Domestic Violence Act, 2013
In practice
The Civil Marriage Act governs monogamous civil marriage with dissolution in the High Court. For the Muslim majority, the Cadi courts established under the Cadi Court Act apply Maliki fiqh to marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance, with appeal to the Cadi Appeals Panel; their jurisdiction is exclusive in those matters where the parties are Muslim, so the substantive law of marriage for most Gambians is Islamic rather than statutory. Customary law applies to other communities through District Tribunals. The Children's Act 2005 sets 18 as the age of majority and prohibits child marriage and betrothal, and the Women's Act 2010 domesticated CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol, guaranteeing equality in marriage and prohibiting harmful practices — though the interaction between the Women's Act and personal law under s.7 has been contested. The Domestic Violence Act 2013 created protection orders and criminalised domestic violence.