Criminal law in Somalia

Somalia’s criminal-law framework combines statutory law, Sharia and Xeer. The 2026 Constitution Law No. 51 replaced or updated the earlier provisional constitutional framework, while the 1962 Penal Code remains a baseline under review. The Criminal Procedure Code dates from 1963 and was amended in 2024 according to a UN report. The 2025–2029 Justice Sector Strategy sets a broader reform direction. The constitutional framework and the 2012 bill-of-rights principles provide safeguards, but particular rights should be checked against the current constitutional text and the applicable regional system. The Penal Code covers crimes and contraventions and recognizes legality, intent or negligence, attempt, self-defence, necessity, perpetration and participation. Its categories include offences against the state, persons, property and public order, as well as sexual, moral, traffic, security and terrorism offences. Special rules also arise from the Anti-Terrorism Act Law No. 7/2023, the NISA Act No. 3/2023 and the Anti-Money-Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism amendment Law No. 40/2025. Regional sexual-offence rules differ, and national rape, indecency and anti-FGM legislation remained under reform review in the latest available UN assessment. A criminal matter may begin with a complaint or police report. An injured party can report an offence, although some offences are prosecuted only after a complaint. The Office of the State Attorney General, Xafiiska Garyaqaanka Guud, receives files, directs police investigations, drafts charges, handles witnesses and evidence, oversees prisons and maintains criminal records. The Somali Police Force, including the Criminal Investigation Department, investigates ordinary offences. Federal Member State police and prosecutors may operate in parallel, so the responsible authority depends on the territory and the case. Police may ask a court for a warrant. The Criminal Procedure Code also allows arrest, search or seizure without a warrant in urgent circumstances. An arrested person should be brought before a court within 48 hours, excluding travel time under the Code. Bail is available only where the law permits it and may require a bond or other conditions. The investigation can involve evidence collection, forensic work and a daily investigation record before an indictment reaches the competent court. The ordinary court path runs from a District Court to a Regional Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Military courts handle certain military and security matters. An accused person benefits from the presumption of innocence, information about the reason and language of the accusation, family notification, protection from self-incrimination and coercion, access to counsel and state-funded defence where the person cannot afford a lawyer. Criminal proceedings should also provide a public hearing, attendance, the ability to challenge evidence, an interpreter where needed and visits by family, a doctor or a lawyer. Statutory appeal and retrial mechanisms exist, but current nationwide timelines and detention limits beyond the 48-hour court-presentment rule are not reliably established. The legacy Penal Code lists fines, imprisonment, life imprisonment and death as principal punishments and provides imprisonment ranges of five days to 24 years for crimes in its 1962 text. Older Somali shilling amounts should not be treated as current fines. Special legislation and security measures can affect the result, and prison conditions and oversight vary with capacity, human-rights conditions and territory. The Attorney General’s Office has a prison-oversight role. An injured party may support the criminal case, provide evidence and witnesses, and request civil damages within the criminal proceedings. The Witness and Evidence Section of the Attorney General’s Office is assigned threatened-witness protection and victim assistance. Federal Legal Aid Law No. 47, published in April 2026, creates a formal basis for legal assistance, but eligibility, coverage and provider networks still vary by region. Gender-based and sexual violence have high practical relevance, with stigma, under-reporting and a mixed regional legal environment affecting access to formal remedies. Juvenile Justice Law No. 48, published on 5 April 2026, establishes child-specific rules for arrest, detention, prosecution, rehabilitation and sentencing. Implementation regulations and standard procedures were still being developed in August and September 2026. The available research does not establish reliable national age thresholds or sentencing caps, so older 1963, 2007 or Puntland rules should not be presented as nationwide current law. Traffic Police enforce the Traffic Code Legislative Decree No. 4/1962, road-safety rules and accident investigations. Traffic contraventions may lead to a fine, a settlement process or District Court proceedings. Current licence, registration and fee rules are region-specific, and serious injury or death can also trigger Penal Code offences. Digital criminal law remains under development: the Cybercrime Bill was approved by the Cabinet on 21 August 2025, but its final text and penalty schedule are not verified here. The Cybersecurity Law was approved by the House on 26 January 2026; the National Communications Authority is the highest cyber-governance body, and SOMCIRT has operated since 7 March 2026. The Data Protection Act 2023 can impose up to USD 1,000,000 and two years’ imprisonment for non-compliance with a Data Protection Authority order. Formal access is strongest in urban and security-controlled areas and more limited in rural or conflict-affected areas. Somalia has no reliable nationwide table of criminal filing fees or standard case duration. Xeer elders, Sharia-based qadi or imam processes, alternative dispute resolution and community mediation may be faster or cheaper, but their enforceability, social pressure and protection of women, minorities and internally displaced people vary. More than 95% of disputes were reported by UNDP to be handled outside formal courts, mainly involving land, inter-clan or family matters; that figure does not establish a criminal-case rate. Serious offences require careful referral to formal authorities because customary compensation or mediation is not equivalent to a state criminal conviction. Somaliland operates a de facto separate legal and institutional system, and Federal Government of Somalia rules do not automatically apply there. Areas controlled by Al-Shabaab use coercive non-state adjudication that is not a lawful equivalent of Somalia’s state criminal system.