Somalia
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- transitional federal-parliamentary government: there is no permanent national government
- CONSTITUTION
- September 23, 1979
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- there is no national system; a mix of English common law, Italian law, Islamic law, and traditional Somali norms
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- unicameral, National Assembly
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- not operational: following the fall of the National Government, many regions reintroduced Islamic law and Somali customary law, with the possibility of appeal
RELIGIONS
Sunni Muslims
From the country
SEPTEMBER 4, 2021SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: AL-SHABAAB PUBLICLY EXECUTE WOMAN IN HIIRAAN
Residents in Shaw village in the Hiiraan region say that an Al-Shabaab court sentenced a woman to death for allegedly being a soldier in the Hirshabelle Security Forces, Hiiraan Online reported on 1 September 2021.
JULY 15, 2021SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: MAN EXECUTED BY FIRING SQUAD FOR RAPING THREE-YEAR-OLD STEPDAUGHTER
A man sentenced to death for raping his three-year-old stepdaughter was executed by firing squad on 15 July 2021 in southern Somalia’s Jubaland state.
JULY 12, 2021SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: A MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY A PUNTLAND COURT ESCAPES JAIL
A prisoner who was sentenced to death by a court in Puntland for the murder of a man in Lasanod several years ago on 6 July 2021 escaped the main prison in the town of Gardo.
JULY 5, 2021SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: AL-SHABAAB EXECUTES SIX ALLEGED SPIES
Al-Shabaab terrorist group on 27 June 2021 publicly executed six people accused of spying for the American intelligence agency, the CIA, in southern Somalia.
- JULY 1, 2021SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: THREE EXECUTED IN PUNTLAND FOR TERRORISM
Authorities in the regional state of Puntland on 27 June 2021 executed three men in Garowe and Qardho town, regional police commander Colonel Mumi Abdi Shire told the media.
JUNE 30, 2021SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: 18 AL-SHABAAB CONVICTS EXECUTED IN PUNTLAND
A military court in Puntland on 27 June 2021 executed eighteen Al-Shabaab members by firing squad in the central town, Galkayo.
- JUNE 16, 2021SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: 17 AL-SHABAAB MEMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN PUNTLAND
The military Supreme Court in the semi-autonomous Somali regional state of Puntland on 13 June 2021 sentenced 17 men to death in Galkayo.
APRIL 22, 2021SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: PUNTLAND MILITARY COURT HANDS DOWN DEATH SENTENCE TO FIVE SHABAB MEMBERS
Court of the Armed forces of the Puntland State of Somalia on 21 April 2021 handed down death sentence to five Shabab members who were found guilty in what the court said a series of assassinations and planting landmines in Galkacyo and some parts of the
- MARCH 18, 2021SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALILAND’S MILITARY COURT SENTENCES SOLDIER TO DEATH
A Somaliland military court on 13 March 2021 sentenced a military soldier to death for killing a civilian.
- MARCH 3, 2021SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: AL-SHABAAB EXECUTES 5 PEOPLE FOR SPYING
The Somali-based al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group al-Shabaab has executed five people in the southern town of Jilib in Somalia's Middle Juba region, Anadolu Agency reported on 2 March 2021.
FEBRUARY 15, 2021NorwayDEATH PENALTYSOMALILAND: NORWEGIAN CITIZEN SENTENCED TO DEATH COULD BE SHOT WITHIN A FEW DAYS
The Court of Appeal in Hargeisa on 14 February 2021 upheld the death sentence against the 54-year-old Norwegian citizen Saad Jirde Hayd in Somaliland.
JANUARY 27, 2021SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: MILITARY COURT SENTENCES SOLDIER TO DEATH
A military court in Somalia on 23 January 2021 sentenced a soldier to death for killing a civilian.