Procedures
High Court Rules on the English model, with the Supreme Court as final appellate court
Civil procedure follows the Rules of the High Court on the English pattern with writs, pleadings and discovery. Since 1998 The Gambia has had its own Supreme Court as final appellate court, ending appeals to a regional or Privy Council forum, and the ECOWAS Court sits in Banjul.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — District Tribunals, Magistrates' Courts, High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court; ECOWAS Court and African Commission seated in Banjul.
Governing law
- Rules of the High Court, as amended — English-model civil procedure.
- Arbitration Act, 2005 — Model Law based framework.
In practice
The High Court's Rules follow the English Rules of the Supreme Court structure: writ of summons or other originating process, pleadings, summons for directions, discovery and inspection, trial and costs. District Tribunals and Magistrates' Courts handle lower-value and customary matters, and the Special Criminal Court and Industrial Tribunal have specialised jurisdiction. The 1997 Constitution created a domestic Supreme Court as the final appellate court and constitutional court, which had periods of underfunctioning during which it lacked a quorum, and reconstituting it was a priority after 2017. The Arbitration Act 2005 provides a modern framework based on the Model Law, and the Alternative Dispute Resolution Secretariat promotes mediation. Notably the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice is seated in Banjul, so regional human rights litigation against member states is physically conducted in The Gambia, and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has its secretariat there as well.