Criminal law in Guinea

Guinea's main criminal-law texts are the Code pénal L/2016/059/AN, the Code de procédure pénale L/2016/060/AN and later amendments, including L/2022/011/CNT. The Constitution adopted on 21 September 2025 and promulgated on 26 September 2025 prohibits the death penalty. Criminal liability follows legality, strict interpretation, non-retroactivity and proportionality. A contravention normally leads to police penalties, a délit to correctional penalties and a crime to criminal penalties. An attempt is punishable for crimes and for délits when the law expressly provides for it. Complicity generally carries the same penalty as the main offence, and legal entities can also incur criminal liability where the law allows it. Guinea applies territorial jurisdiction and selected extraterritorial jurisdiction for matters including trafficking, drugs, money laundering, terrorism, cybercrime, corruption and international crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. A complaint or denunciation can be submitted to the Police judiciaire, Gendarmerie or Procureur de la République. The authority records it in a procès-verbal, gives an immediate receipt and provides a copy on request. A preliminary investigation or flagrant-delit investigation may lead to prosecution, judicial investigation and judgment by a Tribunal de première instance, Tribunal correctionnel or Tribunal de simple police. The Juge d'instruction investigates matters assigned to that procedure, while the Cour d'appel and the criminal chamber of the Cour suprême hear specified challenges. Economic and financial offences generally involving at least 1,000,000,000 GNF may fall within the jurisdiction of CRIEF, the Cour de répression des infractions économiques et financières. Crimes or délits committed in office by the President, Prime Minister or Government are assigned to the Cour spéciale de Justice de la République under the Constitution. Police custody, called garde-à-vue, normally lasts up to 48 hours, with a written and reasoned extension of up to 24 hours by the prosecutor for qualifying offences. The detained person has rights to immediate notice of the reasons and rights in a language understood, lawyer assistance, family and medical safeguards, dignity and protection from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Searches and seizures are generally governed by the Code de procédure pénale, with special powers for certain money-laundering, terrorism, drug and national-security investigations. Pretrial detention should be used only when indispensable rather than judicial supervision. The usual maximum is four months for correctional matters, renewable within a total of 12 months subject to listed exceptions, and six months for criminal matters, within a total of 18 months or, for specified serious crimes, 24 months. Release becomes mandatory when a valid detention mandate expires unless another legal basis applies. In practice, prolonged detention, slow proceedings, overcrowding, limited medical care and uneven access to lawyers remain reported risks. Sanctions include imprisonment, fines, confiscation, disqualification, publication orders and security measures. Courts may also use judicial supervision, suspended sentences, community service, sentence suspension or splitting, semi-liberty, temporary leave, conditional release, rehabilitation and amnesty where the legal requirements are met. An AGRASC-linked framework supports the management of seized or confiscated assets. Victims may join proceedings as a partie civile and seek restitution or damages through the criminal process. Each Tribunal de première instance has a Bureau d'aide aux victimes, while the Ministry of Justice has a Service de protection des victimes et des témoins under L/2022/013/CNT. Protection measures can address safety, privacy and psychological support with consent and proportionality. Legal aid under L/2022/012/CNT is means-tested, while some court-appointed-counsel situations qualify by law; access includes Guinean nationals, qualifying reciprocal-state nationals, minors, refugees and stateless persons, as well as accused persons, convicted persons and civil parties. Applications can be made before, during or after proceedings, and aid may be partial or total within the State budget. Children become criminally responsible at age 13. A child under 13 follows a protective or educational pathway, while a person aged 13 to 18 is handled by a Tribunal pour enfants or juvenile section with defence access and social or medical inquiry. Detention should be a last resort, and mediation pénale for lower-gravity offences may involve compensation, repair, restitution, community service or an apology. Guinea's road-traffic legislation applies to all road users and vehicles, including foreign vehicles; serious injury, death and dangerous driving can also trigger the Penal Code. The cybersecurity and data-protection law covers unauthorized access, interception, data alteration or theft, child sexual-abuse material, racist or xenophobic content, threats, identity misuse, phishing, unlawful personal-data processing, spam and intellectual-property infringement. ANSSI and sectoral CERTs cooperate with justice, security and telecommunications bodies, while the Code de procédure pénale governs digital searches and access except for an imminent-risk exception. Formal access exists nationwide through police, the prosecutor's office and first-instance courts, but specialized services and some expertise are concentrated in Conakry. No reliable fixed nationwide filing fee was identified; lawyer, expert and transport costs may arise, while legal aid can reduce qualifying costs. French dominates legal texts, but rights information must be given in a language understood by the person. Appeals, opposition, proceedings in default, cassation, revision, mutual legal assistance and extradition provide further legal avenues depending on the case.