REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON
Peace Work Fatherland
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
8TH LEGISLATIVE PERIOD
LEGISLATIVE YEAR 2011
3rd EXTRAORDINARY SESSION
(December 2011)
LAW
TO SET UP A SPECIAL CRIMINAL COURT
The National Assembly deliberated and adopted at its
Plenary Sitting held on 3 December 2011
Bill No. 903/PJL/AN set out as follows:
CHAPITER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEction 1.- This law set up the Special Criminal Court, hereinafter referred to as “the Court".
sEction 2.- The Court shall be competent to hear and determine matters, where the loss amounts to at least 50 0oo ooo CFA francs relating to misappropriation of public funds and other related offences provided for in the Penal Code and International Conventions ratified by Cameroon.
sEction 3.- It shall have its seat in Yaounde and a nationwide jurisdiction.
SEctioN 4.- The Court shall be composed of:
at the bench
- a President;
- one or more Vice-Presidents;
one or more judges; - one or more Examining Magistrates.
•at the legal department
- one Procureur General;
one or more Advocates General; - one or more Deputy Procureur General.
at the registry
- one Registrar-in-Chief;
one or more Section Heads; one or more Registrars and Registrars working with the Examining Magistrate.
sEction 5.- The Judicial Officers, Court Registrars assigned to the said Court as well as the Judicial police officers cited in section 7 hereunder shall be bound by the rules and regulations of their respective professions.
CHAPTER 2
PROCEEDINGS
sEction 6.- Subject to the provisions hereunder, the rules of procedure shall be the same as those provided for by the Criminal Procedure Code.
sEction z.- (1) Any complaint, accusation or petition relating to any of the offences cited under Section 2 shall be subject to investigations ordered by the Procureur General of the Court.
(2) He shall exercise the functions of the State Counsel during the preliminary or judicial investigations. (3) A specialized corps of judicial police officers placed under his control shall be responsible for investigating and carrying out rogatory commissions. (4) Preliminary investigation shall be closed after a period of 30 (thirty) days, renewable twice. The period for remand in custody shall be that provided for by the Criminal Procedure Code. (5) Upon the closure of preliminary investigations, the case file shall be forwarded to the Procureur General. (6) The Procureur General may:
- close the case file; or
-order the conduct of a judicial inquiry.
However, where the loss is below 50 ooo ooo CFA francs, the Procureur General of the Court shall transfer the case file to the competent Procureur General.
SEction 8.- (1) Every trial Court seized of offences falling within the competence of the Court shall immediately declare itself incompetent.
(2) The Procureur General may also request for the same procedure by seizing his counterpart of the Court of Appeal of the court referred to in the preceding Subsection.