In a significant ruling delivered on Wednesday, Senegal’s Constitutional Council declared the first article of Law No. 08/2025 of April 2, 2025, unconstitutional.
This law, presented as an “interpretive” measure, aimed to narrow the scope of a previous amnesty law (No. 2024-09 of March 13, 2024) by excluding acts related to political demonstrations deemed “unrelated to the exercise of a public freedom or a democratic right.”
The Constitutional Council, in its decision (No. 1/C/2025), firmly stated that the challenged law introduced a “new rule” that would permit the prosecution of acts that had already been granted amnesty. The court concluded that this directly violated the fundamental constitutional principle of the non-retroactivity of more severe criminal laws, as enshrined in Article 9 of the Senegalese Constitution.
The constitutional judges emphasized that this restriction effectively amounted to the retroactive application of a more stringent provision, a practice explicitly prohibited by both the Constitution of Senegal and the universally recognized Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789.
Concerns over crimes without statute of limitations and international obligations
Furthermore, the Constitutional Council highlighted that the contested law also contravened Senegal’s binding international commitments, particularly the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The court noted that the interpretive law sought to include within the scope of the amnesty crimes that are considered imprescriptible (without a statute of limitations) under international law, such as torture and inhumane treatment. “The legislature cannot deprive the principles relating to the protection of human dignity of their scope,” the Council asserted, underscoring the constitutional weight of international human rights instruments ratified by Senegal.
This landmark decision by the Constitutional Council follows an appeal lodged by 24 members of parliament, who denounced the interpretive law as “discriminatory” and a violation of the principle of equality before amnesty. In contrast, the Senegalese government and the National Assembly had defended the text as purely interpretative, intended solely to clarify perceived “ambiguities” within the original amnesty law.
The Constitutional Council’s ruling is final and not subject to appeal. It is slated for official publication in the Official Journal of Senegal. This decision represents a notable setback for the Senegalese authorities and is likely to amplify existing criticism regarding attempts to restrict the broad amnesty that was initially granted in the wake of recent political crises that have gripped the nation. The invalidation of the interpretive law by the highest constitutional body underscores the judiciary’s role in safeguarding fundamental legal principles and upholding Senegal’s constitutional and international human rights obligations.
ARD/te/Sf/fss/abj/APA