Guiné-Bissau : Prosseguir a construção de um sistema de justiça, independente e útil, para as populações

This policy brief by the Institute for Security Studies analyzes the challenges facing the justice system in Guinea-Bissau, highlighting a history of impunity and the failure to implement key reforms due to political instability. It advocates for the relaunch of the 2015-2019 Justice Reform Program and constitutional changes to ensure judicial independence and financial autonomy.

• The justice system in Guinea-Bissau is characterized by a history of impunity, where political and military elites have frequently avoided accountability for serious crimes, including the assassination of high-ranking state and military leaders.
• Due to the absence of formal justice, particularly in rural areas (tabancas), populations often rely on individual settlements or traditional authorities, leading to the dominance of local cultural norms over constitutional principles.
• Significant gaps exist between legislative reforms and operational reality; for example, of 42 planned sectoral courts for 'small cases', only 22 were created, and only 11 were active as of May 2017 due to lack of funds and personnel.
• The judicial police, while having national jurisdiction, is only present in the capital, Bissau, and lacks essential tools for criminal investigations, such as a scientific police laboratory or a medical institute.
• The Justice Reform Program (2015-2019), designed to strengthen court independence, improve transparency, and create a Constitutional Court, has been blocked by the political crisis prevailing since 2015.
• The document recommends that a new Constitution should establish a fixed, irremovable mandate for the Attorney General and a fixed mandate for the President of the Court of Auditors to combat corruption and mismanagement.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2018). Guiné-Bissau : Prosseguir a construção de um sistema de justiça, independente e útil, para as populações. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policybrief-guineabissau-4-por.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Guiné-Bissau : Prosseguir a construção de um sistema de justiça, independente e útil, para as populações. 2018. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policybrief-guineabissau-4-por.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Guiné-Bissau : Prosseguir a construção de um sistema de justiça, independente e útil, para as populações |date=May 2018 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policybrief-guineabissau-4-por.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudies2018guinbissau, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Guiné-Bissau : Prosseguir a construção de um sistema de justiça, independente e útil, para as populações}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2018}, month = may, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policybrief-guineabissau-4-por.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }