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Somaliland Civil Procedure Law

Somaliland Civil Procedure Law

BACKGROUND...New Updates: Nov 2013

Until October 1974, the laws governing civil procedures in Somaliland (then known as the Northern Regions) were the previous civil procedure laws of the independent State of Somaliland and the preceding Somaliland Protectorate.  Various Somaliland Orders in Council from 1899 onwards extended the application of Indian and British laws to Somaliland Protectorate and on independence in June 1960, section 42 of the 1960 State of Somaliland Constitution and its Schedule 2 listed the continued application of various, some of which related to civil procedures.  These were:

  • The Code of Civil Procedure 1908.
  • The Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
  • The Indian Oaths Act, 1873.
  • The Indian Limitation Act, 1908.
  • The amendments of these laws were also applicable, as far as they were relevant to Somaliland which was often set out in ordinances.

Additionally, other Ordinances such as the Execution of Money Decrees, the Somaliland Civil Procedure Ordinance 1923 and various other ordinances relating to the changes in the courts’ structures also had an effect on civil procedures.  Nonetheless the Indian Code of Civil Procedure remained the main law dealing with conduct of civil litigation in Somaliland until the mid-1970s. In all civil (and criminal) cases, however, courts were enjoined by law (for example, under s.12 of the Somaliland Order in Council 1930) to be guided by Somali customary law, ‘so far as it is applicable and is not repugnant to justice and morality or inconsistent with any Order in Council or Ordinance, and (b) shall decide all such cases according to substantial justice, without excessive regard to technicalities of procedure or undue delay’.  Kadis Courts dealing with family (and other personal) matters applied Islamic law, but after union with Somalia in July 1960 and the introduction, from 1962, of a unified single courts (consisting of first instance district  and  regional courts;  two appellate courts  - one for the Northern Regions (Somaliland) and one for the Southern Regions (Somalia) - and  a Supreme Court, all the courts were all enjoined,  under Article 9 of the 1962 Organisation of the Judiciary Law (Law No. 3 of 12 June 1962),   to apply ‘(a) the Shariat law or Customary law in civil controversies where the cause of action has arisen under said law; (b) statutory law in all other matters’.  This meant that the courts were unified but although there was still a bifurcation of  sharia law or customary law on the one hand,  and statutory law on the other, Article 98(1) of the 1960 Constitution stressed that the latter, statutory law,  ‘and provisions having the force of law shall conform to the Constitution and to the general principles of Islam’.

Whilst the criminal laws of Somaliland and Somalia were integrated in the early to mid- 1960s, primarily to avoid too many disparities in the treatment of offenders in the two territories, no such integration was achieved in the civil and commercial laws, as well as in the legal profession until well into the 1974 in respect of civil procedures.  Throughout the 1960s (and the early 1970s), therefore, the former Somalia Regions applied the Italian Civil Procedure Code, whilst the former Somaliland Regions applied the Indian Civil Code of Procedure (as amended) and other relevant evidence and procedural laws.   This also meant that until the military coup of 21 October 1969, the Somali Republic Supreme Court cases which arose from cases from the former Somaliland regions were presided over by a judge conversant with Somaliland laws and for most of the 1960s this was an Indian judge, Haji N A Noor Muhammad (and Vice-President of the Court), and for short period before the coup by a  UK trained judge (and, by 1969,  President of the Court for a short period).

On reassertion of its sovereignty in May 1991 and the establishment of peace after the long war, Somaliland started to re-build its political and legal institutions.   The Somaliland National Charter of 25 April 1993 (Article 31(1)), was specific in wiping away, at a stroke, the former Somalia dictator’s laws, and stated that ‘laws in force before 20 October 1969 and which do not conflict with the Islamic Sharia, the rights of individuals and fundamental freedoms shall be implemented in the territory of the Republic of Somaliland’.  As it became clear that some laws passed during the 20 year dictatorship may take longer to replace, the 1997 Somaliland Interim Constitution (Article 151(7))accepted that all the laws which were in force then and which did not conflict with the Islamic Sharia and/or fundamental rights and freedoms shall remain in force until the promulgation of laws which are in accord with the Constitution of the Republic of Somaliland.   This formula was repeated in Article 130(5) of the final 2000 Somaliland Constitution (the Somaliland Constitution) adopted at the national referendum in May 2001.  This was based on pragmatism, and meant that the main codes issued in the 1960s democratic government and the non-security related or other legislation passed during the dictatorship would continue to be in use until such time there was an opportunity to change them and subject to their provisions passing the test of conformity with both Sharia and fundamental rights and freedoms and with the Somaliland sovereignty related provisions of the Constitution. Such Codes and laws will have to be therefore read with the fundamental provisions of the Somaliland Constitution, and all references to the Somali Republic are read as referring to the Republic of Somaliland.

Somali Civil Procedure Code 1974

The Somali Civil Procedure Code, LAW No. 19 of 27 July 1974, came into force on 21 October 1974 and expressly repealed   the previous Somaliland laws.

Comment:  The Code was based on the then Italian Civil Procedure Code which has since been extensively amended and is therefore in considerable need for modification and amendments. The considerable delays in civil cases in Italy have in the past incurred the criticism of the European Human Rights Court under Article 6(1) (fair trial within a reasonable time) of the European HR Convention. The three stages -introductory, proof-taking, and decision making-  of the judge led inquisitorial  litigation and the predominance of written over oral elements, the lack of immediacy between the sources of evidence and the adjudicating judge and the piecemeal character of the procedure have been criticised for contributing to extending the duration of litigation in the Italian Civil Law system.  This is in sharp contrast to the procedures under the Somali Criminal Procedure and the pre 1974 Somaliland Civil Procedures which were based on adversarial systems and witness evidence to be tested at trials.  Nonetheless the Indian Civil Code of Procedure was itself criticised by the Indian Law Commission in its  1964 Report on the Code for contributing to excessive delays which they stated was a problem that was  as ‘old as the law courts’.  The ILC summarised a ‘fair trial’ in the adversarial system as meaning that  –

    ‘… each party must know the case of the other party (pleadings), that each party must disclose to the other party all documents which are relevant to the subject-matter of the dispute between them (discovery and inspection), that the Court should determine the points of difference between the parties (issues), that each party should be permitted to lead evidence in support of its case (examination of witnesses) and, finally, that each party should be heard before judgement is delivered. An ideal Code is one which strikes a just balance between a fair trial and expedition. Subject to the necessary safeguards to ensure a "fair trial", the procedure should be so simple that "it is easier to decide a case than to invent reasons for not deciding it".’

These few comments are not advocating for the superiority of one system versus the other. Indeed  the two litigation systems are getting closer to each other with, for example,  the adoption, in England, in 1999 of the Woolf Reforms (Access to Justice) which introduced detailed Civil Procedures Rules giving judges extensive powers to manage the conduct of cases through pre-hearing directions and managed early disclosures of relevant evidence. The way forward for the currently mixed and eclectic Somaliland system is to amend extensively the 1974 Code and introduce new changes in relation to the pre-trial and trial procedures that combine judge led management of the conduct of civil case with an adversarial system of  full disclosure of evidence and testimony tested at a main hearing.  It also time, in our view,  that a separate Civil (and criminal) Evidence Law is introduced as was the case in Somaliland previously. The evidential provisions in both the Civil Procedure and the Criminal Procedure are both woefully inadequate. Our recommendation is therefore not a return to the past  but more of ‘back to the future’  so we can catch up with some of post Woolf modern Civil Procedure Laws in African or  Asian countries.

The 1974 Civil Procedure Code Provisions

 Firstly, these are some of the  amendments of the Code:

  • Article 7 to 10 of the Code setting out the Jurisdiction of the District, Regional, Appeals and Supreme Court are all amended by Articles 6, 7 , 8, 9 & 10 of the Somaliland Organisation of the Judiciary Law (Law No. 24/2003 – the 60 arts. Version). Some of these provisions also affect some of the Code’s references to appeals and reviews by the Appellate Courts.
  • Two minor amendments made in 1975: Law No. 6 of 4/1/1975 inserting a new Article 80bis (or 80B) relating to a judges duty to verify and protect the public interest in plaints involving governmental and public bodies.
  • Law No. 70 of 19/10/1975 amending Article 250 relating to the signing of appellants appeals to the Supreme Court.

Secondly, copies of the Code are set out below:

  • A copy of the Code (Qaanuun al ijra’aatal Madaniya) is  available here in Arabic . This is a large pdf file (2.5mb) (In viewing the Code, please note that the beginning is at the end of the file and the final articles, as well as the Index of Articles is at the beginning. The print version should be easy to rearrange in the right sequence).
  • The Italian version of the Code is available here. This text is the nearest to the original source of the Code.
  • The Code was never translated into English.

We set out below the actual provisions of the Code in small scanned copies of the Somali version XEERKA HABKA MADANIGA in the table below listing the main chapters headings in Somali (and our translation if the headings into English:

 

CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE (Law No. 19 of 27 July 1974)

XEERKA HABKA MADANIGA ( Xeer Lam. 19 ee 27 Luulyo 1974)

BUUGA KOOWAAD: QODOBBADA GUUD

 

BAABKA 1AAD:  HAY'AADAHA GARSOORKA 

Madaxa 1aad: Garsooraha

Qaybta  1aad: Wilaayadda Garsoorka iyo Awoodda. 1- 6

Qaybta 2aad: Awoodda xagga mawduuca, qiimaha iyo dalka. 7-11    

Qaybta 3aad: Awoodda xagga dalka. 12-18

Qaybta 4aad: Beddelaadda   awoodda. 19-21

Qaybta 5aad: Maqnaashaha wilaayadaa Garsooridda   iyo  awoodda. 22-25 

Qaybta 6aad: Habka wilaayadda Garsooridda iyo awoodda. 26-28     

Qaybta 7aad: Ka joogsashada duridda iyo mas’uuliyadda Garsoorayaasha. 29-34     

Madaxa 2aad: Kaaliyayaasha iyo Gaarsiiyayaasha. 35-37

Madaxa 3aad: Khabiirka Teknikada ah iyo Ilaaliyaha iyo Kaaliyayaasha Garsooraha. 38-45

 

BAABKA 2AAD: XEER ILAALINTA GUUD 46-50

 

BAABKA 3AAD

Madaxa 1aad: Dhinacyada iyo wakiilada. 51-53

Madaxa 2aad: Qareennada. 54-58

Madaxa 3aad: Waajibaadka dhinacyada iyo Qareenka. 59-60

Madaxa 4aad: Kharajka dacwadda  iyo mas’uuliyadda dhibaatooyinka ka dhasha. 61-67

 

BAABKA 4AAD: OOGIDDA DACWADDA. 68-76

 

BAABKA  5AAD: AWOODAHA GARSOORAHA 77-81

 

BAABKA  6AAD:

Madaxa 1aad: Talaabooyinka dacwadda.

Qaybta 1aad: Qaabka tallaabooyinka. 82-86

Qaybta 2aad: Fadhiga. 87-90

Qaybta 3aad: Xukunka. 91-93 

Qaybta 4aad: Gaarsiin. 94-108

Madaxa 2aad: Muddooyinka. 109-110

Madaxa 3aad: Burrinta tillaabooyinka . 111-116

 

BUUGGA 2AAD: OOGIDDA DACWADA

 

BAABKA 1AAD: QAADISTA DACWADAHA DARAJADA KOOWAAD

Madaxa 1aad: Oogidda  dacwadda

Qaybta 1aad: Arjiga dacwadda iyo  u yeeridda. 117-126

Madaxa 2aad: Diyaarinta dacwadda

Qaybta 1aad: Awoodda  Garsooraha. 127-130

Qaybta 2aad: Qaadista dacwadda. 131-135

Qaybta 3aad: Diyaarinta ku saabsan sugidda. 136-185

Qaybta 4aad: Soo dhexgalka dhinaca saddexaad  iyo  midaynta Dacwadda. 186-191      

Madaxa 3aad: Dhamaynta  dacwadda. 192-197

Madaxa 4aad: Fulinta xukumada iyo gaarsiintooda. 198-200

Madaxa 5aad: Saxidda xukunnada iyo amarada. 201-202

Madaxa 6aad: Qaadidda dacwadda dhinacyadeedu maqan yihiin. 203-206

Madaxa 7aad: Joojinta dacwadda kala go’idda iyo dhiciddeeda.

Qaybta 1aad: Joojinta dacwadda. 207-210

Qaybta 2aad: Kala go’idda qaadista dacwadda. 211-215  Qaybta 3aad: Dhicidda dacwadda. 216-220

    

BAABKA 2AAD: DURIDDA

Madaxa laad: Jidadka Durridda. 221-229

Madaxa 2aad: Racfaanka.. 230-245

Madaxa 3aad: U cabashada Maxkamadda Sare. 246-265

Madaxa 4aad: Arjiga ku noqoshada . 266-271

 

BUUGGA 3AAD: HABABKA GAARKA AH

 

BAABKA 1AAD: DACWOOYINKA GAABAN

Madaxa 1aad:  Dacwooyinka lagu fulinaayo amarka. 272-285       

Madaxa 2aad: Bannaanshaha ka saaridda. 286-292

Madaxa 3aad: Hababka dhowrista

Qaybta 1aad: Amarka qabashada ee garsooraha. 293-299

Qaybta  2aad: Baaritaanka ilaaliska ah. 300-301

Qaybla  3aad: Hababka degdegga ah iyo  lahaanshaha. 302-304

Madaxa 4aad: Ka reebidda iyo ka qaadidda tasaruufka. 305-308

Madaxa 5aad: Kan la waayey iyo kan laa xukumay dhimashadoodu maqnaansho iyo maleyn dhimasho. 309-311

 

BAABKA 2AAD: XOOGGA XUKUNNADA DALALKA SHISHEEYAHA AH

Madaxa 1aad: Aqoonsi. 312-316

 

BAABKA 3AAD: DHEXDHEXAADINTA  317-333

 

BAABKA 4AAD: HABKA QOLKA TASHIGA  334-337

 

BUUGA  4AAD: HABKA FULINTA

 

BAABKA 1AAD:

Madaxa 1aad: Waxyaalaha la fulin karo. 338-345 

Madaxa 2aad: La wareega fulinta khasabka ee mulkiyadda guud ahaan. 346-359

Madaxa 3aad: Fulinta guurtada ee deynqabaha. 360-376

Madaxa 4aad: Fulinta ku saabsan mulkiyadda dadka saddexaad. 377-389    

Madaxa 5aad: Ku fulinta maguurtada. 390-416

Madaxa 6aad: Ku fulinta xoolaha aan qaybsanayn. 417-418

Madaxa 7aad: Fulinta lidka ku ah qofka saddexaad ee deynqabuhu wax ku leeyahay. 419-421

 

BAABKA LABAAD: FULINTA DHIIBISTA IYO KA BIXIDDA AH 422-428

Madaxa laad: Fulinta xilka gudashada ama ka haridda shaqo si khasab ah. 429-431 

                       

BAABKA 3AAD: KA HORTAGGA 432-436

 

BAABKA 4AAD: JOOJINTA TILLAABOOYINKA FULINTA  IYO DHICIDDOODA. 437-444   

 

 

 

 

 

BOOK ONE - GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

TITLE I - JUDICIAL BODIES

Chapter 1 – Judiciary

Section 1 - powers and jurisdiction (1-6)

Section 2 - Jurisdiction in respect of subject, value and territory (7-11)

Section 3 - Territorial jurisdiction (12-18)

Section 4 - Change in jurisdiction (19-21)

Section 5 - Lack of judicial jurisdiction and powers (22-25)

Section 6 – Procedures relating to judicial jurisdiction and powers  (26-28)

Section 7 – abstentions,  recusal and liability of judges (29-34)

Chapter 2 - Clerks and Bailiffs (35-37)

Chapter 3 - The technical expert and the Custodian and the Clerks of the Judge (38-45)

 

TITLE 2 – THE PROCURACY (46-50)

 

TITLE 3

Chapter 1 - The parties and representatives (51-53)

Chapter 2 -  Advocates (54-59)

Chapter 3 -  Duties of the parties and advocates (59-60)

Chapter 4 - Costs of proceedings and liability for problems arising thereof (61 – 67)

 

TITLE 4 – INITIATING A CLAIM (68-76)

 

TITLE 5 - JUDGES POWERS (77-81)

 

TITLE 6

Chapter 1 – Claim procedures

Section 1 -  Acts relating to the claim (82-86)

Section 2 - Hearings (87-90)

Section 3 - Decision (91-93)

Section 4 – Service (94-108)

Chapter 2 - Time limits (109-110)

Chapter 3 – Nullity of acts (111-116)

 

BOOK  2: CLAIM PROCEEDINGS

 

TITLE 1 – CONDUCT OF FIRST INSTANCE PROCEEDINGS

Chapter 1 – Commencement of the claim

Section 1 - Claim application and summons (117-126)

Chapter 2 –  Directions relating to the  proceedings

section 1 -  Powers of the Judge (127-130)

section 2 - Conduct of the proceedings (131-135)

Section 3 - Evidentiary directions (136-185)

Section 4 – Third party intervention and joinder of proceedings (186-191)

Chapter 3 -  Conclusion of the proceedings (192-197)

Chapter 4 - Enforcement of judgements and their service (198-200)

Chapter 5 - Correction of judgements and orders (201-202)

Chapter 6 - Conduct of proceedings were parties are absent (203-206)

Chapter 7 – Stay of proceedings, interruption and termination

Section 1 - Stay of proceedings (207-210)

Section 2 - Interruption of proceedings (211-215)

Section 3 - Termination of proceedings (216-220)

 

TITLE 2 - CHALLENGES

 

Chapter 1 – Way of mounting challenges (221-229)

Chapter 2 –Appeals (230-245)

Chapter 3 – Challenges at the Supreme Court (246-265)

Chapter 4 – Application for review (266-271)

 

BOOK 3:  SPECIAL PROCEURES

 

TITLE 1: SUMMARY IN PROCEEDINGS

Chapter 1 – Proceedings for enforcing an order (272-285)

Chapter 2 – Eviction proceedings (286-292)

Chapter 3 – Precautionary procedures

Section 1 – Judicial seizure order (293-299)

Section 2 - Precautionary investigation           (302-304)

Section 3 – Emergency measures and possession (302-304)

Chapter 4 – Disqualification and removal of capacity (305-308)

Chapter 5 - Missing and presumed dead on the basis of absence and presumed death (309-311)

 

TITLE 2: EFFICAY OF FOREIGN JUDGMENTS

Chapter 1 – Recognition (312-316)

 

TITLE 3: ARBITRATION  (317-333)

 

TITLE 4: PROCEEDINGS IN CHAMBERS (334-337)

 

BOOK 4: EXECUTION PROCEEDINGS

 

TITLE 1

Chapter 1 -  Matters that can be enforced (338-345) 

Chapter 2 – Forced expropriation in general (346-359)

Chapter 3 – Execution by creditor against movables (360-376) 

Chapter 4 – Execution against third parties’ possessions (377-389)

Chapter 5 – Execution against immovables (390-416)

Chapter 6 – Execution against indivisible assets (417-418)

Chapter 7 – Execution against third parties in debt to the debtor (419-421)

 

TITLE 2 –  ENFORCEMENT OF DELIVERY OR RELEASE (422-428)

Chapter 1 – Execution of a compulsory obligation to perform  an act or to refrain from an act (429-431)

 

TITLE 3 – CHALLENGES (432-436)

 

TITLE 4 – STAY OF EXECUTION PROCEEDINGS AND THEIR TERMINATION (437-444)

 

TEXT

 

(Somali)

 

 

 

 

1-15

 

 

 

16-28

 

 

 

29-46

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

47-61

 

 

 

 

61-76

 

 

 

77-91

 

 

 

 

 

92-104

 

 

 

105-116

 

 

 

 

 

 

117-124

 

 

125-136

 

137-156

 

157-173

 

174-186

 

187-199

 

 

200-206

 

 

207-219

 

 

 

 

220-235

 

236-244

 

245-256

 

257-264

 

265-274

 

275-283

 

284-297

 

298-311

 

 

312-323

 

 

 

 

324-333

 

334-344

 

 

 

345-355

 

356-365

 

366-374

 

375-381

 

382-393

 

399-407

 

408-417

 

418-428

 

 

429-434

 

 

435-444

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

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