Criminal law in Madagascar

Madagascar has one national criminal-law framework; no separate criminal-law system for a region or city is established. Its legal sources include the Constitution of the Fourth Republic, the Code pénal, the Code de procédure pénale and later amendments and special statutes. CNLEGIS publishes promulgated laws and the Journal Officiel. The Code pénal version maintained by the Ministry of Justice at 31 March 2005 remains a basic code, so later legislation must also be checked. The Constitution protects legality, meaning that conduct and punishment require a legal basis. It also protects non-retroactivity, the rule against being tried twice for the same matter, the presumption of innocence and defence rights at every procedural stage, including police and prosecution work. Torture, moral pressure and brutality are prohibited. Pre-trial detention is an exception rather than the ordinary starting point. The local term infraction covers punishable conduct. Malagasy law distinguishes crime, délit and contravention, with the classification affecting the procedure and possible sanction. A company or other legal entity can incur criminal liability only where the applicable law expressly provides for it. Relevant offence groups include killing and bodily harm, theft and robbery, fraud and forgery, corruption and embezzlement, money laundering, terrorism and criminal organisations, drug offences, trafficking and sexual exploitation, gender-based violence, child and sexual offences, environmental and rosewood offences, road offences and cyber offences. The Police Judiciaire conducts investigations through judicial police officers known as OPJ, working with the Police Nationale or Gendarmerie Nationale under the Parquet. The Parquet is the prosecution service led by the Procureur de la République. Investigations can include flagrante, an immediate-offence investigation, enquête préliminaire, a preliminary investigation, and information judiciaire, a judicial investigation led by a juge d’instruction. Searches, seizures and the collection of digital data are available under the applicable procedure. Special techniques include infiltration, surveillance, decryption assistance, capture of computer data, telecommunications interception and investigations under a pseudonym. Witness assistance, anonymous testimony and protective measures are also provided for. Providers and operators can be required to supply information; refusal without a legitimate reason can incur a fine of 20,000,000 to 50,000,000 ariary. An accused person must be informed of the choice of a defence lawyer at the first questioning. Failure to provide that information can cause the procedural act to be declared void. A lawyer should be available within three hours after a summons or arrest. The private consultation before questioning can last up to 30 minutes. The defence receives the file 24 hours before questioning or confrontation and can inspect the file three days before the case is formally closed. A lawyer may ask questions, submit evidence requests, make observations and obtain copies at the client's expense. A decision ordering detention must give reasons, and contrôle judiciaire, or judicial supervision, can serve as an alternative; a person released or placed under judicial supervision must provide an address. The Parquet chooses the prosecution path. In correctional or simple-police matters, an OPJ may issue a summons on the Procureur's instruction. The summons identifies the alleged conduct, the legal provision, the court, the hearing date and the right to a lawyer. A juge d'instruction handles cases requiring a judicial investigation. Criminal judgments may be issued by a Tribunal de première instance, commonly called a TPI, or by a Cour criminelle. Appeals go to the Cour d'Appel and cassation review goes to the Cour de Cassation. The Haute Cour Constitutionnelle reviews constitutional questions but is not a criminal court; the Cour Suprême is the highest judicial structure. Possible sanctions include imprisonment, detention, fixed-term or life forced labour, fines, confiscation and restrictions or withdrawal of a driving licence. A vehicle can also be immobilised. The Administration pénitentiaire, under the Ministry of Justice, manages imprisonment and rehabilitation. Detention conditions and duration vary by facility, case and available resources, so no single national duration or capacity figure should be assumed. A victim can submit a complaint or report to the Police Nationale, Gendarmerie Nationale, an OPJ or the Parquet. A victim can also become a partie civile, meaning a civil party in the criminal case, and seek compensation through the action civile under the Code de procédure pénale. Gender-based violence is addressed by Loi 2019-008, which combines repression with prevention, protection and support. Loi 2007-038 provides assistance and protection for trafficking victims, including safeguards against renewed victimisation. No direct nationwide victim-compensation office is established by the available evidence. Mob justice and informal retaliation do not replace the Parquet or a court. For sexual offences against children, Loi 2024-001 and Articles 332 and 332 bis provide different penalties by age: rape of a child under 10 can lead to life forced labour, rape of a child aged 10 to under 13 to 15 to 20 years of forced labour, and rape of a child aged 13 to under 18 to 10 to 15 years. Recidivism can lead to life forced labour. Surgical castration may be imposed as an additional penalty subject to the Haute Cour Constitutionnelle's reservation and implementing rules; a chemical-castration requirement was replaced by a condition imposed by the Haute Cour Constitutionnelle. Public display of an accused person was removed, and stricter criminal provisions do not apply retroactively. A child is under 18 for youth-justice purposes, and the age at the time of the alleged conduct determines the applicable treatment. If age cannot initially be proved, the person keeps child status until clarification. Tribunaux pour enfants and the juge des enfants handle child cases, with guarantees of humane and fair treatment, the child's best interests, non-discrimination, participation and legal representation. The 2024 sexual-offence castration rules do not apply to children in conflict with the law who were under 18 when the conduct occurred. Road offences are also governed by Code 2014-037. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs can bring a fine of 100,000 to 400,000 ariary, suspension or withdrawal of the driving licence, or vehicle immobilisation. Refusing a control can bring a fine of 200,000 to 800,000 ariary. Driving without a licence while under the influence can bring one month to one year of imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 to 800,000 ariary. Leaving the scene of an accident can bring two months to one year of imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 to 2,000,000 ariary. Injury or death in a road incident can also trigger Articles 319 or 320 of the Code pénal. Loi 2014-006 covers cyber offences, including fraudulent access to or remaining in a system, inserting, deleting or altering data, disrupting or altering a system and illegal interception. It also covers certain threats, identity theft, insults and content involving violence, pornography, racism, xenophobia or attacks on human dignity. Loi 2016-031 amended Article 20 of Loi 2014-006. A 2026 cybercrime project remains a draft and is not a confirmed replacement until promulgation. Digital investigations follow the Code de procédure pénale as amended by Loi 2016-017. Financial and organised crime can involve Loi 2018-043, as amended by Loi 2023-026, covering money laundering, terrorist financing and criminal proceeds, together with freezing, seizure and confiscation. SAMIFIN is the financial intelligence service. BIANCO, SAMIFIN, PAC, CSI and ARAI are specialised actors whose involvement depends on the case. Loi 2016-020 addresses corruption and Loi 2016-021 establishes Pôles Anti-Corruption. Cross-border cases can use criminal mutual assistance, extradition, evidence-gathering and seizure or confiscation under Loi 2017-027; Madagascar has also joined the SADC mutual legal assistance framework. Access to the formal system is national through local police, gendarmerie, OPJ or Parquet offices. Victims, witnesses, accused persons, children and legal entities may have access according to the applicable law. A formal legal-aid request can be made on plain paper with supporting proof and may provisionally exempt an eligible applicant from Treasury, registry, judicial-officer and lawyer costs under the applicable rules. There is no single verified national fee table. Lawyer copies, medical reports, transport and private defence can create additional costs. Lawyer access and file deadlines are specific, while other case durations depend on the offence, court level and available resources. Criminal limitation periods should not be stated as one general rule because special laws can differ, and some corruption periods run from discovery rather than the original conduct.