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Ivory Coast
Index
The 1960 Constitution entitles all Ivoirians to a fair
public
trial. That mandate was generally respected in urban
areas; in
rural villages, traditional institutions more commonly
administered
justice. Indigent defendants were also entitled to legal
counsel by
court-appointed attorneys. In practice, public defenders
were often
unavailable, and there was a vast difference between the
representation accorded rich and poor clients. According
to the
Constitution, judges are subject only to the law, and the
president, with the assistance of the Superior Council of
Magistrates, is charged with ensuring the independence of
the
judiciary. Because the president of the republic
controlled
appointments to the courts, the judiciary seldom, if ever,
opposed
the president.
The judicial system bore the imprint of both the French
legal
and judicial traditions and, to a lesser extent, customary
law. It
consisted of two levels. The lower courts, all of which
were
created by presidential decree and exercised limited
jurisdiction,
included the courts of appeals, the courts of first
instance, the
courts of assize, and the justice of the peace courts. The
five
courts of first instance, which handled the bulk of
trials, heard
misdemeanor and minor criminal cases (with a maximum
sentence of
three months or less), juvenile cases, and civil cases.
The courts
consisted of a president, one or more vice-presidents, and
one or
more examining magistrates and trial judges, all of whom
were
appointed by the president of the republic. The courts
were located
in Abidjan, Bouaké, Daloa, Korhogo, and Man. Each had two
or more
delegated sections in larger towns within their respective
jurisdictions. The courts of assize, which were paired
with courts
of first instance, handled only major criminal cases. At
the lowest
level were justice of the peace courts, presided over by
justices
of the peace who handled petty cases in civil, criminal,
and
customary law. The two courts of appeals, located in
Abidjan and
Bouaké, heard appeals from courts of first instance and
courts of
assize. The Abidjan court heard appeals from the Abidjan
court of
first instance and its delegated sections; the Bouaké
court handled
referrals from the other four courts of first instance.
The superior courts are mandated by the Constitution
and have
nationwide jurisdiction. They include the Supreme Court,
the High
Court of Justice and the State Security Court. The Supreme
Court is
separated into four sections handling, respectively,
constitutionality of laws, administrative appeal, criminal
appeal,
and financial control of government services. The
Constitution
directs that the court include one president, three
vice-presidents
(one for each section except the constitutional), nine
associate
justices, one secretary general, and four secretaries. The
Constitutional Section, which always met in closed
session,
reviewed laws that had been passed by the National
Assembly but not
yet promulgated. The section had fifteen days to complete
its
consideration of a bill. The president of the republic or
the
president of the assembly could forward requests for a
constitutional review. The president of the republic could
also
submit government bills to the section for a
constitutional hearing
before they were submitted to the Council of Ministers.
The Constitutional Section also supervised referenda as called for
in the
Constitution and ruled on the eligibility of candidates
for the
National Assembly. The president of the Supreme Court
presided over
sessions of the section, which also included the
vice-presidents of
the court and four persons noted for their juridical and
administrative competence. These four could also be members of the
court.
Two of the four were appointed by the president of the
assembly,
and two were appointed by the president of the republic.
The term
of office was four years, and there was no provision for
removal
from office.
The Judicial Section was the highest court of appeals
in
criminal cases. The section consisted of one
vice-president, four
associate justices, and two secretaries. It was organized
into
civil and criminal divisions with three additional
magistrates in
each. The Administrative Section handled cases of alleged
abuse of
administrative power involving individuals in public
administration. This section consisted of a vice-president
and two
associate judges. Unlike the judges in other sections,
those in the
administrative section were magistrates, but not
necessarily members of the bench. Another section of the Supreme Court,
the Audit
and Control Section, monitored public expenditures and
annually
audited accounts of the state and its agencies. This
section consisted of a vice-president, three associate justices, and
one secretary .
The two other superior courts included the High Court
of
Justice and the State Security Court. The High Court of
Justice was
composed of members of the National Assembly who were
elected to
the court every five years, following each general
election. The
court was empowered to impeach the president of the
republic for
treason and to judge other members of the government for
crimes or
misdemeanors committed in the exercise of their official
duties.
Cases concerning crimes against state security were heard
in the
State Security Court.
All judges, as well as all employees of the Central
Administration of the Ministry of Justice, comprised the
professional judiciary. They were required to have
obtained a
bachelor of law degree and could not concurrently hold an
elected
office. A Superior Council of the Judiciary was
responsible for
assisting the president in the task of guaranteeing an
independent
judiciary. The council advised the president on
nominations to the
Supreme Court, on cases concerning judicial independence,
and on
disciplinary problems. It also advised the minister of
justice on
nominations to magistrate positions. The council's
membership
included members of the Constitutional Section of the
Supreme Court
and three magistrates, each appointed to two-year terms by
the
president from a list prepared by the minister of justice.
Data as of November 1988
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