Criminal law in Burundi

The Constitution of Burundi protects a fair hearing within a reasonable time, the principle that conduct must be criminalised by law, the ban on retroactive criminal punishment, the right to defence, the presumption of innocence, public proceedings and protection against arbitrary detention and interference. Territorial jurisdiction usually follows the place of the offence and other statutory rules. Burundi may also prosecute certain offences committed abroad when conditions such as the nationality of the offender or a Burundian victim and double criminality are fulfilled. The revised Criminal Code is established by Law No. 1/27 of 29 December 2017. Law No. 1/09 of 11 May 2018 governs criminal procedure. Special legislation adds rules for gender-based violence, victim and witness protection, cybercrime and road traffic. Criminal offences include violence and homicide, torture, sexual offences, abduction, property offences, corruption and offences by public officials, trafficking in persons, crimes against state security, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and digital offences. A complaint, denunciation or report can be received by an officer of the Police Judiciaire, known as an OPJ, or by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The Procureur de la République directs or supervises the work of the OPJ and decides how the case proceeds. The Prosecutor can also act on the basis of information about an offence without waiting for a private complaint, particularly in sexual-offence cases. Public officials who learn of an offence may have to report or transmit the information without delay. Flagrante delicto cases follow a special accelerated procedure. During an ordinary garde à vue for a deeper investigation, detention may last up to seven days and may be extended once by the Prosecutor. Before questioning, the suspect must be informed of relevant rights. The suspect can have a Conseil or Avocat, communicate freely and remain silent without a lawyer present. Special temporary retention for intoxication, identity checks or a dangerous mental condition is limited to 24 hours. A provisional arrest warrant may last up to 15 days. Pre-trial detention requires sufficient grounds for suspicion, an offence carrying at least one year of imprisonment and a detention interest recognised by the applicable rules. A court order initially lasts 30 days and each extension must be reasoned and renewed monthly. Under the described Code of Criminal Procedure system, the maximum is one year for an offence carrying a maximum sentence of five years and otherwise up to three years. Release is the rule and detention is an exception, but the exact calculation must be checked against the current offence classification and procedural record. The Public Prosecutor’s Office may send a case to investigation or directly to the competent court. Ordinary courts include the Tribunal de Résidence, Tribunal de Grande Instance, Cour d’Appel and Cour Suprême, with special courts or chambers applying where the law provides. Hearings are generally public, although the law or the court can order a closed hearing. Judgments must give reasons and be pronounced publicly. The Code provides routes such as opposition, appeal and cassation, with deadlines and admissibility depending on the case. A separate guilty-plea procedure, aveu et plaidoyer de culpabilité, requires a detailed admission and review by the Public Prosecutor’s Office within the applicable maximum period of 30 days. If the admission is rejected, the ordinary procedure continues, and a rejected admission cannot be used as evidence. A victim may file a complaint with the OPJ or Prosecutor and may become a partie civile from the court’s referral of the case until the end of the debates. A consignation is generally required, but an indigent victim can seek an exemption with an attestation d’indigence. An approved association may act in certain sexual- or violence-related cases with the consent of the victim or authorised representative. Victims and vulnerable witnesses can receive protective measures and may be heard without confrontation with the alleged offender when protection requires it. If the Prosecutor closes a case without further action, the complainant, victim and suspect must be informed within the applicable period, stated in the research materials as a maximum of two weeks. Compensation for harm can be claimed through partie civile within the criminal case; this does not turn the criminal proceedings into a separate civil-law case. Criminal sanctions include servitude pénale, fines, confiscation and additional legal consequences. Life imprisonment remains possible, while the death penalty has been abolished and the maximum fixed-term sentence in the revised system is 30 years. The precise sentence depends on the offence, its legal classification and aggravating circumstances. The Ministry of Justice manages prisons and criminal-justice administration, but prison conditions and actual enforcement should not be treated as identical to the wording of the criminal provisions. Criminal responsibility begins at 15 years. A child under 15 is not criminally responsible and may face only civil reparation under the stated framework. For ages 15 to under 18, the law reduces the available penalties: where the adult offence carries life imprisonment, the range is five to ten years; where it carries a fixed-term sentence or a fine, the maximum is four years. Protective, educational and supervisory measures may apply. Authorities should verify age first, inform the parent, tutor or guardian and a social assistant or approved organisation, arrange a social inquiry and use detention only as a last resort. Questioning a person under 18 without an Avocat or qualified authorised person can invalidate the procedure. The Chambre des Mineurs of the Tribunal de Grande Instance and the corresponding chamber of the Cour d’Appel handle youth cases, which are heard in closed session. Road offences are governed by Law No. 1/26 of 23 November 2012, the Code de la circulation routière. They cover driving without a licence, alcohol, excessive speed, impaired faculties, leaving the scene, technical vehicle defects and safety or equipment breaches. Police de roulage or road-safety authorities may act together with the competent criminal courts. Depending on the offence, sanctions can combine fines, seizure or retention of the vehicle, withdrawal of the licence and imprisonment. Examples in the Code include 50,000 FBu for alcohol above the applicable limit and for speeding, and 20,000 FBu plus licence withdrawal for impaired faculties; enforcement practice should be checked for the specific case. Law No. 1/10 of 16 March 2022 addresses cybercrime and related prevention. It covers unauthorised access, manipulation or deletion of data, disruption, interception, abusive software, payment-card fraud, digital identity theft, online harassment or harm, harmful rumours and online child or sexual exploitation. Electronic evidence and investigative powers are relevant, while operators and providers have cooperation, identification and data-retention duties. The stated examples include ten to fifteen years of imprisonment and 20 to 30 million FBu for violations of data integrity, ten to fifteen years and 10 to 20 million FBu for interception, and two to five years and 10 to 20 million FBu for digital identity offences. Specific operator breaches can carry fines of 100 to 500 million FBu. Access commonly runs through the OPJ, Public Prosecutor’s Office, court registry or competent court, with an Avocat representing a victim or accused person. The Ministry of Justice operates access-to-justice and legal-assistance programmes, and the Cour Suprême identifies legal aid as a service. Eligibility, fees and availability must be verified locally because no general cost-free criminal procedure has been established. A partie civile may also face a consignation unless an indigence exemption applies. Statutory detention and procedural deadlines can be precise, but the total duration of a case and local infrastructure vary and should not be promised in advance.