By gaining independence on October 2, 1958 following a negative vote in the referendum initiated by General de Gaulle, Guinea experienced, in terms of judicial organization, a rupture precipitated by the brutal closure of the colonial courts and the massive departure of their staff, mainly made up of French people, even taking away the archives and pending files.

This situation did not, however, lead to profound changes in the judicial structure, because the remaining common law courts continued to apply French positive law under Order No. 001/PRG/58 of October 3, 1958 authorizing the application of French laws not contrary to public order and the integrity of the new State of Guinea.

In 1959, a profound judicial reorganization took place following Orders No. 018/PRG/59 of February 2, 1959 and No. 038/PRG/59 of July 9, 1959 and a Court of Cassation was set up for the first time.

This Court of Cassation functioned until June 3, 1973 before being replaced by a Superior Court of Cassation created by law 018/AN/73.

In April 1984, following a political upheaval following the death of Ahmed Sékou Touré, justice once again underwent profound reforms resulting from the recommendations of national and provincial conferences held for magistrates and clerks.

Thus, by Order No. 115/PRG/84 of July 14, 1984, a Supreme Court was established to replace the former Superior Court of Cassation.

Two years later, the Supreme Court, because of its slowness and inefficiency, was replaced by the National Chamber of Annulment under Order No. 110/PRG/86 of July 5, 1986.

Following the adoption, by referendum, of the fundamental law in 1990, the National Chamber of Annulment was replaced by the Supreme Court whose powers, organization and functioning had been defined by Organic Law L/91 /008/PRG/ of December 23, 1991. This organic law was modified by Organic Law L/2017/N°003/AN of 02/23/2017.

THE COMPETENCIES OF THE SUPREME COURT:

Under the provisions of articles 2 to 6 of organic law L/2017/No. 0003/AN of February 23, 2017, the Supreme Court has jurisdictional and advisory jurisdiction.The Supreme Court is the judge of first and last resort of the legality of regulatory texts and acts of executive authorities, as well as legislative provisions of a regulatory nature.

The Court rules on cassation appeals against:

• rulings and judgments rendered in last resort by lower courts;
• decisions rendered in last resort by administrative bodies of a jurisdictional nature;
• decisions of the collective labor dispute arbitration council.

It hears judgments of the Court of Auditors through appeals to the Court of Cassation.

It hears, through appeals for cassation or annulment, the decisions of the courts and tribunals relating to other administrative disputes.

The Supreme Court also rules on:

• requests for review in criminal matters;
• requests for transfer from one jurisdiction to another due to legitimate suspicion or public safety;
• settlements of judges between jurisdictions having no common superior jurisdiction above them, other than the Supreme Court;
• requests to take action against a member of a Court of Appeal or an entire Court;
• conflicting judgments or rulings rendered as a last resort, between the same parties and on the same means, by different courts;
• criminal proceedings against magistrates of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, the Court of Auditors and the Courts of Appeal.

The Supreme Court gives its opinion on draft laws and decrees and on regulatory acts submitted to it by the President of the Republic or the President of the National Assembly.

The Supreme Court is contacted by the President of the Republic or the National Assembly to give its opinion, prior to their inclusion on the agenda of the National Assembly, on the projects or proposed laws submitted to it.

The Supreme Court deliberates in a consultative general assembly.

When the emergency is signaled by the President of the Republic, the Court rules, exceptionally, as a judicial commission.

It endeavors to verify the formal regularity of the legal text, its appropriateness and its consistency with the legislation in force and proposes, if necessary, the appropriate normative formulation.

She also ensures that the part of the text whose ambiguity can lead to confusion is correctly drafted.

The Supreme Court has two Judicial Commissions :

– the judicial commission responsible for ruling on requests for compensation presented by persons who have been the subject of a decision for pre-trial detention and who have benefited from a final decision of dismissal, acquittal or acquittal;

– the judicial commission responsible for ruling on appeals filed by judicial police officers who have been the subject of a decision to suspend or withdraw their authorization.

 THE COMPOSITION OF THE SUPREME COURT:

La haute juridiction guinéenne se compose :

At the seat :

• The First President
• chamber presidents;
• advisors and master advisors;

At the General Prosecutor’s Office:

• the Attorney General;
• the first advocate general;
• the general advocates;

At the Registry:

• the head of the registry;
• The chief clerks;
• The clerks.

Auditors and judicial assistants may be assigned to the service of the Supreme Court, the recruitment procedures for which are established by decree.

A study and research documentation service is created under the authority of the first president of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court currently includes :

At the seat

1. A First President
2. Six chambers

• An administrative and constitutional chamber;
• two criminal chambers; And
• three civil, commercial and social chambers:
  • seventeen advisors;
  • a master advisor; and
  • four Justice auditors.

At the general prosecutor's office:

• a public prosecutor;
• a first general counsel;
• nine advocates general.

At the registry:

• a chief of the registry;
• three chief clerks;
• ten clerks.

ON THE APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS OF THE SUPREME COURT:

The magistrates of the Supreme Court are appointed by decree of the President of the Republic, on the proposal of the Minister of Justice, after assent from the Superior Council of the Judiciary. These are magistrates meeting the seniority conditions of at least 15 years.

In accordance with articles 2 of the organic law L/2013/066/CNT of December 12, 2013 and 114 of the organic law L/2013/046/CNT of January 18, 2013 on the Court of Auditors, advisors or general advocates may be appointed in extraordinary service at the Supreme Court, upon assent from the Office of the Court:

• professors of law, economics or finance, of magisterial rank, having practiced for at least 15 consecutive years;
• inspectors of financial and accounting services, civil administrators who have held office for at least 20 consecutive years.

Articles 5, 6, 7 and 11 of organic law L/054/CNT/2013 of May 17, 2013, relating to the status of magistrates were amended by order no. 006/PRG/SGG/2021 of November 30, 2021. Thus, the following may also be appointed as magistrates:

• lawyers registered with the Guinean Bar and having at least 5 years of professional practice;
• Guinean lawyers registered with foreign bars and having at least 5 years of professional practice;
• teacher-researchers in a law faculty or research institute with at least 5 years of seniority in said functions and holding at least an M2 Master's degree in Law.

The rank and scale of the Magistrates thus appointed are fixed by Order of the Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals after advice of the Superior Council of the Magistracy.

With regard to the provisions of article 11 of organic law L/2017/No. 0003/AN of February 23, 2017, “the first president may be appointed attorney general, at his request.

The Attorney General may be appointed as the first president.

The first president and the attorney general of the Supreme Court are chosen from among the presidents of chambers, the first advocate general, the advisors and attorneys general of the Supreme Court, the first presidents and attorneys general of the Courts of Appeal.

The presidents of chambers are chosen from among the first advocate general, the advisors, the advocates general at the Supreme Court, the first presidents and attorneys general, the presidents of chambers and the advocates general of the Courts of Appeal.

A president of the chamber may be appointed first advocate general at his request.

The advisors are chosen from among the first presidents and attorneys general of the Courts of Appeal, the presidents of chambers and advocates general of the Courts of Appeal.

The master advisors are appointed in accordance with the provisions governing the appointment of members of the Court of Auditors.

The first advocate general is chosen from among the advisors and advocates general of the Supreme Court, the first presidents and attorneys general, the presidents of chambers of the Courts of Appeal, the advocates general at the Courts of Appeal.

The secretary general is chosen from among the advisors and advocates general of the Supreme Court.”

The order of precedence in the Supreme Court is regulated as follows:

1. the First President;
2. the attorney general;
3. the presidents of chambers, the first advocate general;
4. advisors, master advisors and general advocates;
5. the head of the registry, the chief registrars;
6. the clerks.

When magistrates of the Supreme Court have parity of title, they take rank among themselves in the order and date of their appointment and, if they were appointed by the same decree or by different decrees but of the same day , according to the order of their swearing-in.

OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SUPREME COURT:

These are articles 18 to 23 of organic law L/2017/N° 0003/AN of February 23, 2017 which deal with this administration:

• The First President is responsible for the administration of the Supreme Court and the discipline of its members.
• The First President is the authorizer of the operating funds allocated to the Court. He is assisted by the office of the Court which is made up of the first president, the attorney general, the presidents of chambers and the first advocate general.
• the staff made available to the Supreme Court is managed by the First President, assisted by the Secretary General.
• The First President also has a cabinet which assists him in his tasks of administration of the Court and management of jurisdictional and advisory activities.
• the First President can bring together all the magistrates of the Supreme Court in an internal assembly, to deliberate on all questions concerning the jurisdiction. The internal assembly adopts the draft budget and the internal regulations. This includes the first president of the Court, the attorney general, the presidents of chambers, the first advocate general, the advisors and the advocates general.
• The First President may also convene a meeting of all Court staff.
• in the event of proven failure to fulfill his duties by a magistrate of the Supreme Court, the first president may refer him before the Superior Council of the Judiciary. The magistrate concerned ceases all judicial functions during the period of investigation of the case. However, he may be authorized, by order of the first president, and within the time limits set by him, to continue the procedures he has started.

Il ne peut être mis fin, à titre temporaire ou définitif, aux fonctions de magistrats de la Cour Suprême, que dans les formes prévues pour leur nomination, sur avis conforme du Bureau de la Cour.

The measure provided for in the preceding paragraph can only be taken at the request of the person concerned or for physical or mental incapacity or for professional misconduct.

In all cases, the interested party receives prior communication of their file. It is heard by the Bureau upon summons from the First President.

However, when the circumstances of the case so require, having regard to discipline, the First President of the Supreme Court takes a precautionary measure of suspension against the accused with immediate effect.

As soon as the measure is notified, the magistrate in question is suspended from his duties, pending the final decision of the disciplinary panel of the Superior Council of the Judiciary.

Concerning the general public prosecutor's office, these are articles 24 to 26 of the organic law L/2017/N° 0003/AN of February 23, 2017 which deal with the question:

• the public prosecutor directs the prosecution of the Court and ensures its discipline;
• the functions of the public prosecutor are entrusted to the attorney general;
• the first general advocate and the general advocates participate in the exercise of these functions;
• the Attorney General fulfills the functions of the public prosecutor before the High Court of Justice;
• the Attorney General distributes the First Advocate General and the Advocates General between chambers of the Court. He can modify this distribution at any time.

For the Supreme Court registry, it is headed by the head of the registry, appointed by decree, on the proposal of the first president.

• the head of the Supreme Court registry is chosen from the body of chief clerks;
• he is responsible for holding the pen, keeping the minutes of the judgments and issuing the dispatches;
• he supervises, encourages and controls the activities of the Court clerks;
• he makes all the notifications prescribed by law;
• he is assisted by chief clerks and clerks;
• the head of the registry provides the secretariat of the consultative general assembly;
• on the proposal of the head of the registry, the First President of the Supreme Court fixes by order the distribution of clerks in the different chambers. This order may be modified during the year.
• The head of the registry of the Supreme Court submits, at the beginning of each year, to the first president and the attorney general a report on the activities of the court during the previous year. This statement is addressed to the Minister of Justice.

 ON THE OPERATION OF THE SUPREME COURT:

• The First President presides, when he deems it appropriate, over any judicial formation of the Supreme Court and, in this case, the president of this formation becomes the reporting advisor.
• The First President, after hearing the Office, assigns the advisors between the jurisdictional formations.
• The Attorney General may himself occupy the seat of the public prosecutor before all jurisdictional formations.
• He is replaced by the first general advocate or by one of the general advocates.
• The Supreme Court panels are assisted by the chief registrar and clerks.

Formations of the Supreme Court (articles 32 et seq.): There are three of these, namely the chambers, the combined chambers and the consultative general assembly.

1) – The chambers : As noted above, the Supreme Court has eight chambers. For service requirements, the number of rooms may be increased by order of the first president, on the advice of the Office of the Supreme Court.

• The First President sets, by order, the date and time of the ordinary hearings of the chambers, after advice of the Attorney General. He distributes the things between the rooms.
• The chambers are composed of at least five magistrates. They may sit in a restricted formation of three magistrates, whenever the nature of the case justifies it, in particular to pronounce decisions of inadmissibility, suspension of execution, forfeiture, dismissal of proceedings or to rule on a legal problem already resolved by the Court, or on the disciplinary or administrative decisions of autonomous regulatory bodies.
• Each chamber is made up of a president, at least four councilors, the representative of the public prosecutor and a clerk. It is chaired by its president or, in the event of his absence or incapacity, by the most senior of the advisors assigned to it. In the event of the absence or incapacity of a Councilor from one chamber, he or she is replaced by a councilor belonging to another chamber. It must sit in odd numbers.

Room assignments:

– The Administrative and Constitutional Chamber knows:

• in first and last resort, appeals for annulment for excess of power, of the legality of the acts of local authorities; – the regulatory nature of certain legislative provisions;
• appeals in cassation against decisions rendered in last resort on full jurisdiction disputes and judgments of the Court of Auditors;
• appeals against decisions rendered by administrative bodies of a jurisdictional nature.

Following the takeover of power by the Defense and Security Forces on September 5, 2021, all constitutional institutions were suspended. It was not until Order O/2021/002/PRG/CNRD/SGG of September 18, 2021, that the Court of Auditors and the Supreme Court, classic courts of the judicial order, were authorized to continue their regular functioning, in accordance with the laws in force (article 1^er).

By this same order, it was indicated, in article 2, that constitutional functions were provisionally entrusted to the Supreme Court.

In view of this order, the first president of the Supreme Court issued order O/2021/009/CAB/PP/CS of October 12, 2021, relating to the operation of the administrative and constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court.

Il est indiqué ce qui suit :

Article 1: Les fonctions constitutionnelles, confiées à la Cour Suprême par l’ordonnance O/2021/002/PRG/ CNRD/SGG en date du 18 septembre 2021, seront exercées par la chambre administrative, cumulativement avec les fonctions qui lui sont attribuées par la loi organique L/2017/003/AN du 23 février 2017.

Article 2: The Administrative Chamber now takes the name of Administrative and Constitutional Chamber.

Article 3: In constitutional matters, when it is not chaired by the First President, the administrative and constitutional chamber rules in the collegial formation of 7 members, including 4 presidents of chamber, including the president of said chamber, and advisors, in accordance with in paragraph 2 of organic law L/2011/006/CNT dated March 10, 2011.

Article 4: In electoral matters and the reception of the oath of the President of the Republic and high personalities subject to the formality of oath, when it is not chaired by the first president, the administrative and constitutional chamber rules in the collegial formation of 11 members , including 6 chamber presidents, including the president of the said chamber, and advisors, in accordance with paragraph 3 of organic law L/2011/006/CNT dated March 10, 2011.

In the event of force majeure, it sits in a minimum number of five members.

Section 5: In matters of opinion on constitutional questions and violations of human rights, when it is not chaired by the first president, the administrative and constitutional chamber rules in the collegial formation of 5 members, including 3 presidents of chamber, including the president of said chamber, and advisors, in accordance with paragraph 4 of organic law L/2011/006/CNT dated March 10

Article 6: The Court, in application of article 47, paragraph 2, of the organic law L/2011/006/CNT, dated March 10, 2011, hears the report of its rapporteur advisor, the conclusions of the public prosecutor and rules by a decision.

– The criminal chambers hear cassation appeals in criminal matters.

– The civil, commercial and social chambers rule on appeals of cassation in civil, social and commercial matters, with the exception of appeals against decisions relating to the Uniform Acts of OHADA.

2) – Combined rooms:

• The united chambers include the chamber presidents and the councilors, under the presidency of the first president.
• The formation of the joint chambers hears regulations of judges, requests for disqualification of a magistrate of the Supreme Court or of a first president of the Court of Appeal, requests for referral from one jurisdiction to another due to suspicion legitimate or public safety.
• It rules on the request for a judgment, the cases referred to it, either by order of the first president, or by judgment of a chamber.
• The formation of the combined chambers can validly deliberate if at least nine members are present. Decisions are made by majority.
• The formation of the combined chambers always sits in odd numbers (articles 46 to 41 of the organic law L/2017/No. 0003/AN of February 23, 2017).

3) – From the General Assembly:

– The composition of the general assembly:

• The general assembly is composed of all the members of the Court listed in Article 7 of the law on the Supreme Court, namely at the seat of the first president, the presidents of chambers, the councilors and master councilors; to the general prosecutor's office: the attorney general, the first attorney general, the attorneys general; at the registry: the head of the registry, chief registrars, registrars; auditors and justice assistants.

• The General Assembly of the Supreme Court meets when convened by the first president.
• It also meets when convened by the first president, at the request of the attorney general or a third of its members.
• It is chaired by the first president or, failing that, by the attorney general or, if the latter is unable to do so, by a president of the chamber or, failing that, by the first advocate general.

– Responsibilities of the General Assembly:

• Without being able to make an assessment of the ends pursued by the President of the Republic, the consultative general assembly of the Supreme Court gives a reasoned opinion on the legality of the provisions on which it is consulted, but also, if necessary , on the relevance of the legal means chosen to achieve the objectives pursued, taking into account the constraints inherent to administrative action.
• The Supreme Court, meeting in a general assembly, also gives its opinion to the President of the Republic in all cases where its consultation is provided for by legislative and regulatory provisions and each time it is consulted in administrative matters.
• Requested by the President of the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, meeting in a consultative general assembly, gives its opinion on the legislative proposals submitted to it, before their inclusion on the agenda of the National Assembly.
• The first president of the Supreme Court, after hearing the Bureau, may decide that a case, instead of being examined by the consultative general assembly, will be referred to a special commission of the assembly chaired by a magistrate he designates. for this purpose.
• The opinion of the commission takes the place of deliberation of the general assembly (articles 46 to 48 of the organic law L/2017/N° 0003/AN of February 23, 2017).