Criminal
Code pénal 2001 retaining the death penalty in law, with a long-standing moratorium
Loi n° 01-079 governs. The death penalty remains on the statute book but Mali has observed a moratorium on executions for decades. A specialised judicial pole handles terrorism and transnational organised crime.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Tribunal de grande instance and Cour d'assises; a specialised pole in Bamako handles terrorism and organised crime.
- Deadline — Garde à vue: 48 hours, extendable; longer for terrorism offences
- Deadline — Prescription: 10 years for crimes, 3 years for délits
Governing law
- Loi n° 01-079 du 20 août 2001 portant Code pénal
- Loi n° 01-080 portant Code de procédure pénale
- Loi n° 2008-025 relative à la répression du terrorisme
In practice
Mali's criminal justice system operates across a territory much of which the state does not control, and in the north and centre non-state armed groups and Islamic courts administer their own justice. The specialised Bamako pole concentrates terrorism prosecutions, but investigation depends on evidence gathered in areas courts cannot reach, and the ICC has separately prosecuted the destruction of Timbuktu's mausoleums.