Procedures
Code de procédure civile with customary assessors and OHADA enforcement
Civil 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.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Tribunal de grande instance with customary assessors in personal status; Cour d'appel above, and the CCJA on Uniform Act questions.
- Deadline — Appeal: one month from service
- Deadline — Opposition to an injonction de payer: 15 days
- Deadline — CCJA pourvoi: two months
Governing law
- Code de procédure civile
- Loi n° 2004-50 fixant l'organisation et la compétence des juridictions
- Acte uniforme portant organisation des procédures simplifiées de recouvrement et des voies d'exécution
In practice
The use of customary assessors — two lay members advising on the content of the parties' custom — is the distinctive feature of Nigerien first-instance procedure, and follows from the absence of a family code. Their opinion is advisory, but in practice determines the applicable personal-status rule, so identifying the parties' custom is a procedural step with substantive consequences.