Criminal
Penal Code with the death penalty abolished at independence
Offences are set out in the Penal Code with procedure under the Criminal Procedure Code, prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office. There is no death penalty.
Key rules
- Deadline — An arrested person must be brought before a court without undue delay
- Deadline — Appeals from the High Court lie to the Court of Appeal
Governing law
- Penal Code (Cap. 67) (s. 193)
- Criminal Procedure CodeCap. 17
- Penal Code (Amendment) and the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) Act 2017
- Magistrates' Courts OrdinanceCap. 52
In practice
The Penal Code descends from the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colonial code and closely resembles Tuvalu's, which shares the same origin. The 2017 amendments were a substantive modernisation of sexual offences, aligning definitions and evidence rules with the Family Peace Act reforms. Serious matters are tried in the High Court by judge alone, with lay magistrates handling the bulk of ordinary offending across the islands. Kiribati abolished capital punishment at independence, so it is fully abolitionist in law rather than merely in practice — a genuine contrast with Tonga.