Senegal’s Constitutional Council has struck down a key provision of Law No. 08/2025, halting the government’s attempt to retroactively narrow the scope of a sweeping amnesty law passed in March 2024. In its landmark ruling No. 1/C/2025, the Council declared Article 1 of the law unconstitutional, stating that it introduced a punitive reinterpretation of past offenses, violating Article 9 of the Senegalese Constitution, which prohibits the retroactive application of harsher criminal laws.
The controversial clause aimed to exclude from amnesty any acts committed during political demonstrations deemed unrelated to democratic rights or public freedoms—effectively targeting opposition groups involved in recent anti-government protests. However, the Constitutional Council concluded that this selective approach violated not only domestic law but also Senegal’s international obligations. It cited breaches of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, warning that crimes such as torture and inhuman treatment are imprescriptible under international law and cannot be amnestied.
The decision followed a constitutional challenge filed by 24 opposition lawmakers, who argued that the law was discriminatory and politically motivated, designed to silence dissent while shielding state actors.
The Council’s ruling is final and will be published in the Official Journal, effectively ending the government’s bid to revise the original amnesty law. The March 2024 law had controversially pardoned individuals linked to widespread unrest following the disqualification of opposition candidates and the delayed presidential election. Legal analysts see the ruling as a significant victory for civil liberties advocates and a blow to efforts by the executive branch to reinterpret justice post-crisis. The decision is expected to reverberate through Senegal’s political landscape, especially as the country prepares for future elections under increased scrutiny.
