Criminal law in Mali

Mali's criminal law applies nationally. It recognizes responsibility of natural persons and legal entities and addresses completed offences, attempts and assistance or complicity. Criminal responsibility may be excluded or affected by a mental disorder, coercion, legitimate self-defence or necessity. Criminal offences are classified as crimes, délits or contraventions, with different procedures and sanctions. The main legal basis is Loi n°2024-027 of 13 December 2024, the Code pénal, and Loi n°2024-028 of the same date, the Code de procédure pénale. The procedural code provides in Article 1373-1 for entry into force six months after promulgation. These codes replaced the earlier 2001 laws, although some online legal portals still display older consolidated versions. A lawyer or responsible authority should therefore confirm the applicable text and legal status for a concrete case. A criminal matter may start with a plainte or dénonciation submitted to the Procureur de la République or to an Officier de Police judiciaire in the police or gendarmerie. The Procureur decides how the Ministère public proceeds. The process may involve a preliminary investigation, an investigation in a flagrant case or a formal investigation by a Juge d'Instruction. A person directly harmed by the offence may participate as a partie civile, meaning an injured party who asserts a civil claim within the criminal proceedings. After a refusal to proceed or three months without action, a complaint with constitution de partie civile may be possible before the court president, who can refer it to a Juge d'Instruction within the prescribed procedure. During an investigation, garde à vue is a temporary detention measure and should be used only when necessary. The ordinary period is a maximum of 48 hours, with a written and reasoned extension of up to 24 hours. The person must be told the allegation and reason for detention and has rights that include notifying a relative, employer or consulate, seeing a doctor, contacting a lawyer, requesting an interpreter, contacting the Commissaire of the Commission nationale des droits de l'homme and remaining silent. Searches generally take place between 06:00 and 21:00, subject to special rules for terrorism, organized transnational crime and financial offences. Written authorization from the Procureur or Juge d'Instruction is required for communications surveillance, and investigators may preserve or seize digital evidence. Release is the general rule before trial. Judicial supervision may impose conditions, while pre-trial detention is an exception ordered or extended by the Collège des Libertés et de la Détention, which also decides applications for mise en liberté. In a correctional matter punishable by no more than two years where the person has a residence in Mali, detention may be limited to one month after the first questioning by the Juge d'Instruction. The proceedings must respect the presumption of innocence, the right not to incriminate oneself, access to a defence lawyer, language and interpreter rights, adversarial procedure and review by a higher court. The usual path is from the Procureur to an enquête préliminaire or flagrance investigation, followed where necessary by instruction and then trial before the competent Tribunal. Appeals go to the Cour d'Appel, and a pourvoi on points of law goes to the Cour Suprême. Pending cases assigned to a Cour d'assises are handled by the criminal chambers of the Cour d'Appel. Mali also has specialized structures for economic and financial cases and a national cybercrime centre within the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Commune IV in Bamako, with specialized prosecution, investigation, chambers and brigade and national jurisdiction for covered offences. Victims should receive information and procedural guarantees throughout the criminal case. They may bring an action civile alongside the public prosecution and seek damages, restitution or conservatory measures. Protection from contact or proximity may be available for certain violent or sexual offences, and victims may receive information about the enforcement of a sentence. The Agence de Recouvrement et de Gestion des Avoirs saisis ou confisqués can support recovery of assets, which may assist compensation. General official flat tariffs for criminal proceedings are not established in the available information, so costs depend on the procedure and professional assistance used. Mediation pénale is available only in appropriate cases with the parties' consent and is conducted by the Procureur or a mediator. It aims at compensation, ending the conflict and resocialization, but it excludes crimes and sexual délits. The attempt may last no more than 30 days from referral. An agreement is recorded in a procès-verbal and submitted to the Tribunal civil for homologation without registration fees. If mediation fails, the Procureur decides whether to prosecute. Criminal majority begins at 18. A discernible child aged 10 to under 18 can incur responsibility but is subject to protective and educational measures. Children aged 13 to under 18 receive reduced punishment. Parents or a tutor, the Procureur and the Juge des Enfants must be informed without delay. A child under 15 cannot be held in garde à vue. For a child over 15, the ordinary maximum is 20 hours, with a possible 10-hour extension, medical safeguards and separation from adults. A person under 18 cannot be dealt with through direct summons, flagrant-délit proceedings, immediate appearance or voluntary appearance. A crime or délit involving a minor requires formal information proceedings before the Juge des Enfants, Tribunal pour Enfants or the Chambre criminelle pour Mineurs. Pre-trial detention of a child over 13 is allowed only when essential, with maximum periods of three months for a délit and one year for a crime, subject to an additional year for terrorism or transnational crime. The Direction nationale de la protection judiciaire des enfants provides the relevant specialist structure. Sanctions can include death, life imprisonment, fixed-term imprisonment, fines, disqualification, treatment orders, closure of an establishment, publication or dissemination of a judgment and confiscation. Maximum terms vary by offence and can include 30, 20, 15 or 10 years of imprisonment, as well as shorter terms. Community service, known locally as TIG, requires consent and may apply to a délit punishable by no more than two years; the range is 40 to 240 hours for an adult and 20 to 180 hours for a minor aged 16 to under 18. A legal entity can generally receive a fine of up to five times the fine applicable to an individual, together with other statutory sanctions. Sentence enforcement involves the juge de l'application des peines and the Direction générale de l'Administration pénitentiaire et de l'Éducation surveillée. Road offences are governed in particular by Loi n°2023-045. Hit-and-run, driving while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, driving without a valid licence and giving a vehicle to an unlicensed driver can carry three months' imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 FCFA. Repetition may lead to vehicle confiscation. Obstructing traffic can carry six months and 500,000 FCFA; unauthorized racing can carry six months and 1,200,000 FCFA; false registration plates or vehicle documents can carry two years and 250,000 FCFA; and dangerous public transport or overloading can carry six months and 200,000 FCFA. Additional traffic contraventions can carry fines such as 5,000 or 18,000 FCFA. Digital offences are covered by Loi n°2019-056 and provisions including Articles 511-1 and 512-1 of the Code pénal. The rules can apply when the conduct occurs wholly or partly in Mali or produces effects in Mali. They address unauthorized access, interference with data or systems, digital forgery and fraud, child pornography, racist or xenophobic content, threats and insults, and online theft, extortion, abuse of trust or money laundering. Digital evidence has special preservation and seizure rules, and covered cases fall within the national jurisdiction of the Pôle national de Lutte contre la Cybercriminalité at the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Commune IV in Bamako.