Sources and principles of Somali criminal law; II. Criminal liability and grounds for excuse according to Somali criminal law; III. Sanctioning system and alternatives to detention; IV. Somali criminal procedure and enforcement of criminal sentences.

Prof: Abdullahi Omar (Marshale),

Lecturer in criminal law,
  Structure of the course

I. Sources and principles of Somali criminal law;
II. Criminal liability and grounds for excuse according to Somali criminal law;
III. Sanctioning system and alternatives to detention;
IV. Somali criminal procedure and enforcement of criminal sentences.

•       Sources and principles of Somali
criminal law

— General background of Somali legal system
— History of Somali codification in criminal matters
— The main sources of criminal law in Somalia
— The general principles of criminal law

•       Sanctioning system and alternatives
to detention

The so-called “double track system”. Criminal penalties and security measures
— The main species of criminal penalties
— Alternatives to criminal detention in the sentencing and post-sentencing phase

•       Criminal liability and excuse
according to Somali criminal law

— The mental or moral element of the offence (mens rea)
— The material or physical element of the offence (actus reus)
— The causes of justification and excuse (scriminanti)
— Criminal attempt and the participation to the commission of a criminal offence

•       Somali criminal procedure and
enforcement of criminal sentences

General principles of Somali criminal procedure
— Various stages of criminal law trial in Somalia
— The enforcement of criminal sentence and
its judicial review

•       Methodology

•       Statutory law. Explanation of the most significant legal provisions and principles of Somali criminal justice system;

•       The penal articles explained In Details

•       General Background of Somali Legal System

A. The sources of Somali law and the constitutional organization of Somali republic.
B. The history of Somali codification.

•       A. The sources of Somali law and the
constitutional organization of the
Somali republic.

— The Constitution of the Somali Republic
(1961).
— Form of Government: Republic. Since the
Popular Referendum held in1961.

•       A. The sources of Somali law and the
constitutional organization of the
Somali republic.

•       Article 1
Somalia is an independent and fully sovereign State. It is a representative, democratic and unitary Republic.

•       The Somali people is one and indivisible.

•       Sovereignty belongs to the people and is exercised by the people in the forms and within the limits of the Constitution and the laws.

•       This is the constitution of 1961.

Separation of powers

I. The Parliament
II. The Government
III. The Judiciary

•       A. The sources of Somali law and the
constitutional organization of the Somali
republic.

•       Article 109C Somali Constitution
The Constitutional Court shall pass judgment on:
– controversies on the constitutional legitimacy of laws and
enactments having force of law issued by the State and
Regions;
– conflicts arising from allocation of powers of the State and
those powers allocated to State and Regions, and between
Regions;
– charges brought against the President of the Republic and
the Ministers, according to the provisions of the Constitution.

•       B. The history of Somali Codification

•         An historical overview. Somalia was divided in two parts. The North (British colony) and South (Italian colony)

•         The need for new codes of law after the unification.

•       After the Unification of northern and South Somalia.

•       The criminal code of the Somalia was only enacted in 1961.

•       B. The history of Somali Codification

The first Somali Penal Code (1961):  was copied from the Italian Criminal Code the So-called Rocco code.

The Code incorporated the most relevant principles of the Classical School of Criminal law.
1) Proportioning punishment to guilt.
2) Guarantees of the accused.

 

The most significant features of the
“Rocco Code”
1) Significant reduction in the severity of
punishments
2) Avoiding consecutive sentences for
multiple offences
3) Clarifying the grounds on which
punishment might be excluded
4) Individual differences among offenders

•       B. The history of Somalian Codification

The most relevant tenets of the Positive School of criminal law and criminology (Cesare Lombroso, Enrico Ferri, Raffaele Garofalo)
1) Emphasis placed on the offender rather than on the offence
2) Social defense and fight against social dangerousness
3) Preventive approach and scientific evaluation of the social danger of the offender

Ferry's draft for the general part of the new
Somali criminal law:
Substituting social dangerousness for individual
responsibility as a ground for criminal liability