The legal system of Niger
A French-tradition civil-law system under military-led government since July 2023, when the 2010 constitution was suspended and the CNSP assumed power. OHADA commercial law continues to apply. Personal status is governed largely by customary and Islamic rules, as Niger never enacted a comprehensive family code.
Legal tradition
Niger belongs to the civil law (french tradition) tradition. A French-tradition civil-law system under military-led government since July 2023, when the 2010 constitution was suspended and the CNSP assumed power. OHADA commercial law continues to apply. Personal status is governed largely by customary and Islamic rules, as Niger never enacted a comprehensive family code.
How power is divided
Under the suspended constitution, a semi-presidential system with a President, Prime Minister and National Assembly. Currently executive and legislative authority is concentrated in the CNSP and an appointed government.
Where law comes from
- Orders of the CNSP
- Primary instruments of the current governing authority.
- Constitution of 2010
- Suspended; parts referenced in transitional instruments.
- OHADA Uniform Acts
- Directly applicable commercial law.
- Codes
- Civil, penal, criminal procedure, labour and rural codes.
- Customary and Islamic rules
- Govern most marriage, divorce and inheritance questions.
The legal profession
Avocats admitted through the Barreau du Niger after a law degree and traineeship; notaires and huissiers are separate offices.
Law by topic in Niger
- Family LawNo comprehensive family code; Islamic and customary law applied through Article 51Niger has no unified family code. Personal status is governed by custom and Islamic law under a 1962 statute directing courts to apply the parties' custom, with polygamy permitted. Child marriage prevalence is the highest in the world.
- Criminal LawCode pénal 1961 as amended, with slavery expressly criminalised since 2003The Code pénal, as amended, criminalises slavery following the 2003 amendment — the provision applied in the landmark ECOWAS Court decision in Hadijatou Mani v Niger. The death penalty remains in law under a long moratorium.
- Constitutional Law2010 Constitution suspended after the July 2023 coup; governance by ordinanceThe 2010 Constitution of the Seventh Republic was suspended following the July 2023 coup that removed President Bazoum. The Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie governs by ordinance under a transitional charter, and the Cour constitutionnelle was dissolved.
- Immigration & NationalityECOWAS free movement, and the 2015 migrant smuggling law now repealedECOWAS nationals enter visa-free for 90 days. Niger's Loi 2015-36 criminalising migrant smuggling, adopted under European pressure, was repealed in 2023, restoring the previous position on transit through Agadez.
- Employment & LabourCode du travail 2012 with a 40-hour week and inspectorate conciliationLoi n° 2012-45 sets a 40-hour week, regulates fixed-term contracts and requires conciliation before the labour inspectorate prior to any claim. Economic dismissal requires inspectorate authorisation.
- Civil ProcedureCode de procédure civile with customary assessors and OHADA enforcementCivil procedure follows the French model, but courts sit with customary assessors in personal status matters. Enforcement and simplified recovery run through the OHADA Uniform Act, with CCJA appeal on Uniform Act points.
- Business & CorporateOHADA Uniform Acts as directly applicable commercial law, with the CCJA as final appealCommercial law is not primarily national. The OHADA Uniform Acts apply directly and take precedence over conflicting domestic provisions, and the Cour commune de justice et d'arbitrage (CCJA) in Abidjan — not the national supreme court — is the final instance on their interpretation. Uranium and, more recently, oil are the dominant sectors, and the Niger-Benin pipeline dispute has made cross-border infrastructure arrangements commercially significant.
- Property & LandRural Code of 1993 with commissions foncières recording customary rightsOrdonnance n° 93-015 established the Principes d'Orientation du Code Rural, creating a network of commissions foncières that record customary land and water rights, including transhumance corridors, rather than requiring conversion to title.
- Tax LawCode général des impôts with 19% VAT and uranium and oil fiscal regimesVAT is 19%, at the top of the WAEMU band, and corporate tax is 30%. Uranium and petroleum operations are governed by sector codes and individual conventions, and the Niger-Benin export pipeline introduced transit fiscal arrangements.
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