Criminal
Code pénal 1961 as amended, with slavery expressly criminalised since 2003
The 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.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Tribunal de grande instance and Cour d'assises; a specialised pole handles terrorism cases.
- Deadline — Garde à vue: 48 hours, extendable; longer for terrorism
- Deadline — Prescription: 10 years for crimes, 3 years for délits
Governing law
- Loi n° 61-27 du 15 juillet 1961 portant Code pénalas amended
- Loi n° 2003-025 introducing the offence of slavery
- Loi n° 2003-026 portant Code de procédure pénale
In practice
Hadijatou Mani v Niger is the most important human rights judgment involving Niger: the ECOWAS Court of Justice held in 2008 that Niger had failed to protect the applicant from slavery despite having criminalised it in 2003, and awarded damages. The case established that ECOWAS member states can be held liable before the community court for failing to enforce their own criminal law against traditional slavery.