Law enforcement in Niger

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Law enforcement in Niger is the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense though the National Gendarmerie and the Ministry of the Interior through the National Police and the National Guard, a paramilitary police force.

Contents

Organization

The 1999 Constitution brought about a reorganization of the law enforcement organization in Niger. The National Police, the National Guard (then the National Forces of Intervention and Security (NFIS or FNIS in French)) were removed from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense and placed under the control of the Ministry of the Interior. The Ministry of Defense retained control of the Gendarmerie Nationale which is responsible for national policing outside urban areas.

The law enforcement system of Niger and the criminal justice system of Niger are both modeled after their counterparts in the French systems. The police emergency telephone number is 17. [1]

The National Police

The national police is led by a Director General of the National Police who answers to the Ministry of Interior. The National Police has several responsibilities: public security (policing and security, prevention), judicial police (investigation and prosecution), territorial surveillance and general surveillance (general or specialized surveillance as well as administrative investigations). [2] Of all the responsibilities, public safety is the most important focus of the national police in terms of resource allocations. However, in recent years, increasing resources are being devoted to territorial surveillance as terrorist threats in the region have increased since the fall of the Libyan regime and the beginning of crisis in the north of Mali. Each of the eight regions of Niger has a regional office of public safety, whose director has authority over all police elements in the region. Public safety is ensured by the police precincts in urban areas and are responsible maintaining public order as well as fight minor crimes (theft, assault, fraud, violence, etc..). The judicial police deals high delinquency and organized crimes. [2]

National Guard of Niger

Formerly known as the National Forces of Intervention and Security, the National Guard of Niger is responsible for security in rural areas where the national police is absent. It is overseen by the superior commander of the National Guard who reports to the Ministry of Interior. This body is responsible for: border and territorial surveillance of the country, public safety, maintaining and restoring of order, protecting public buildings and institutions, people and their property, the execution of the administrative police in rural and pastoral areas, management and monitoring of prisons, humanitarian actions in the case of national disaster or crisis and protection of the environment. It is also responsible for providing security to administrative authorities and the diplomatic and consular representations of Niger abroad. [3]

The National Gendarmerie

The National Gendarmerie is commanded by the Superior Commander of the National Gendarmerie. Unlike the National Police and the National Guard, the National Gendarmerie is under the control of the Ministry of Defense of Niger. It is divided between territorial brigades and mobile brigades. In addition to territorial defense and maintaining public order, it provides military and paramilitary justice to other corps of the armed forces and participates to the judicial and the surveillance police activities. It is regarded as an elite force due to its stringent recruitment criteria of all armed forces. Due to increasing cross-border traffic of weapons and drugs, its activities have increased border areas. The national gendarmerie, unlike the Army or the National Guard, has never been directly involved in an attempt to seize or control power by force. [2]

Detention, pretrial and trial

Police detention period is limited to 48 hours without evidence. However, if police failed to gather sufficient evidence within the detention period, the prosecutor has the right to give the case to another officer subject to another 48 hours window. However, to start this procedure, the prosecutor must present compiling arguments to the judge. A defendant has the right to a lawyer immediately upon detention, and bail is available for crimes carrying a penalty of less than 10 years' imprisonment. The law generally requires that police conducting a search have a warrant, normally issued by a judge. Under the State Security Law, police may conduct searches without warrants when they have strong suspicion that a house shelters criminals or stolen property.

Customary law in law enforcement in Niger

Traditional chiefs act as mediators and counselors and have authority in customary law cases as well as status under national law, where they were designated as auxiliaries to local officials. Customary courts, located only in large towns and cities, try cases involving divorce or inheritance. They are headed by a legal practitioner with basic legal training who is advised by an assessor knowledgeable in the society's traditions. The judicial actions of chiefs and customary courts are not regulated by law, and defendants can appeal a verdict to the formal court system.

Shortcoming in law enforcement in Niger

Ignorance of the law and lack of financial means have been cited as some of the reasons for shortcomings in law enforcement in Niger. [1] These shortcomings includes severe backlog in the judicial system due to lack of resources, lengthy pretrial detentions due to ignorance of the law and denial of rights. Despite legal limits to the pretrial detention, there have been reports of pretrial detention lasting many decades with reasonable arguments for reasons of charges charges. [1]

Although the freedom of journalism is protected by the constitution and generally protected by institutions, security forces have been blamed to occasionally detain journalists and opposition politicians for political motives. Accusations of corruption are common particularly at police and gendarmerie roadblocks and checkpoints on urban roads as well as highways. The checkpoints are designed to check for papers, to collect tolls or internal tax on goods and to enforce laws and regulations.

In customary law, women generally are assessed by foreign observers as not having equal legal status with men in the traditional and customary courts and do not enjoy the same access to legal redress. [1]

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Niger Armed Forces Armed Forces of Niger

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Military police Police organization part of the military of a state

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Gendarmerie military force charged with police duties among civilian populations

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National Police (France) main civil law enforcement agency of France

The National Police, formerly known as the Sûreté nationale, is one of two national police forces, along with the National Gendarmerie, and the main civil law enforcement agency of France, with primary jurisdiction in cities and large towns. The other main agency is the military Gendarmerie, with primary jurisdiction in smaller towns and rural and border areas. The National Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior and has about 145,699 employees. Young French citizens can fulfill the mandatory service Service national universel (SNU) in the police force.

Minister of the Interior (France) French government ministry

The Minister of the Interior is an important position in the Government of France. The office is equivalent to the Interior Minister of other countries, like the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, the Minister of Public Safety in Canada or similar to a combination of the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security in the United States.

Law enforcement in France

Law enforcement in France has a long history dating back to AD 570, when night watch systems were commonplace. Policing is centralized at the national level. Recently, legislation has allowed local governments to hire their own police officers which are called the "police municipale".

Law enforcement in Italy

Law enforcement in Italy is an exclusive duty of the State, with policing centralized on a national level. It is generally provided by three national agencies with full powers, and by other local forces carrying out restricted and limited duties. The two main police forces in the country are the Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie, and the Polizia di Stato, the civil national police. The third one is the Guardia di Finanza, a militarized police force responsible for dealing with financial crime, smuggling and illegal drug trade.

National Gendarmerie gendarmerie branch of the French Armed Forces

The National Gendarmerie is one of two national police forces of France, along with the National Police. It is a branch of the French Armed Forces placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior—with additional duties to the Ministry of Defense. Its area of responsibility includes smaller towns, rural and suburban areas, while the Police Nationale, a civilian force, is in charge of cities and their centres. Because of its military status, the Gendarmerie also fulfills a range of military and defense missions. The Gendarmes have a cybercrime division. The force has a strength of more than 100,000 personnel, as of 2014.

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Law enforcement in Benin

As in many other countries with a French colonial heritage, law enforcement in Benin was a responsibility primarily shared by a gendarmerie and a police force. Since January 2018, the Republican Police of Benin is the unique law enforcement force.

Like many other countries with a French colonial heritage, law enforcement in Burkina Faso is a responsibility primarily shared by the gendarmerie and the police.

Law enforcement in Cambodia is handled by the Cambodian National Police, one of three General Departments within the Ministry of the Interior. The National Police numbers 64,000 and is divided into four autonomous units and five central departments. The National Police share significant functional overlap with the Military Police, which functions within the Ministry of Defense.

Law enforcement by country

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Municipal Police (France) French local police of towns and cities

The Municipal Police are the local police of towns and cities in France outside the capital. There are 18,000 municipal police officers in 3,500 communities. The Municipal Police are one of the three components of French policing, alongside the National Police and the National Gendarmerie, with about 145,000 police and 98,000 soldiers respectively.

Judiciary of Niger

The current judiciary of Niger was established with the creation of the Fourth Republic in 1999. The constitution of December 1992 was revised by national referendum on 12 May 1996 and, again, by referendum, revised to the current version on 18 July 1999. It is an inquisitorial system based on the Napoleonic Code, established in Niger during French colonial rule and the 1960 constitution of Niger. The Court of Appeals reviews questions of fact and law, while the Supreme Court reviews application of the law and constitutional questions. The High Court of Justice (HCJ) deals with cases involving senior government officials. The justice system also includes civil criminal courts, customary courts, traditional mediation, and a military court. The military court provides the same rights as civil criminal courts; however, customary courts do not. The military court cannot try civilians.

National Police of Niger

The National police of Niger are one of two Police forces, previously under the control of the Armed Forces of Niger, but following the Constitution of 1999, come under the control of the Ministry of the Interior. They are responsible for security and law enforcement in urban areas, and the protection of government buildings, institutions, and through special agencies, the security of government leaders.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Niger. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004. Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. February 28, 2005
  2. 1 2 3 Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine Gouvernance du secteur de la sécurité en Afrique de l’Ouest: les défis à relever – Le Niger
  3. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Etats de lieux de la formation des forces de defense et de securité sur le droit de l’enfant au Niger


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