The Bill, which is set for consideration and amendment, has comprehensive legislation to enforce criminal law.
The Bill is The Gambia's Criminal Code's first comprehensive review in over 80 years. It was introduced in June 2020 and referred to the Standing Committee and the Plenary for action in July 2020. After the 6th Legislature was formed, the Minister for Justice reintroduced the Bill, and it was referred to the Committee for scrutiny. The members unanimously adopted the Human Rights Committee's report on the Criminal Offences Bill 2023.
Its purpose is to modernise criminal justice legislation and bring it in line with current trends. To achieve this, the Bill aims to remove all provisions that restrict freedom of speech, such as criminal defamation and sedition.
Moreover, it also seeks to address long-standing legal gaps by expanding the criminal jurisdiction of the courts to include offences committed by individuals who enter The Gambia after committing crimes outside the country, rather than extraditing them for trial in a foreign state.
The Bill reviews all sentences under the old law to ensure they reflect current realities. During consideration, the National Assembly has made several amendments to the criminal offences Bill 2020.
The Bill has undergone a significant change. It has been renamed as the Criminal Offences Act, 2024 and the new version includes harsher penalties for specific offences, such as incitement to sedition, disobedience of lawful order, and taking unlawful oaths to commit capital offences. Additionally, the bill has introduced provisions to safeguard whistleblowers, who are instrumental in revealing corruption and other criminal activities.
A noteworthy revision has also been made to the law, which includes a fresh provision on hate speech “incitement of violence and hate speech.” As hate speech has become a growing concern in the country, the new bill defines hate speech as ‘any form of communication that promotes hate or violence against a particular group based on their race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.’ Individuals found guilty of this offence could face imprisonment for a minimum of three years and a maximum of five years.
During the sitting, attempts were made to move a motion to consider and amend the Bill comprising 330 clauses beyond 6 p.m., but members were unable to complete the process by amending only 87 clauses out of the whole, leading to the adjournment of the sitting to further notice.
