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Somaliland Legal News - Overview and Comments on Selected Items:
News about all aspects of Somaliland life is covered by various newspapers and websites, some of which can be accessed at these links . We will be covering in this page highlights of some of the main news items relating to constitutional and legal matters and occasional indepth comments and analaysis of few of the issues. We will make every effort to check that the any news items we refer to are accurate. For any views about our analysis or commnets, please write to us at editor@somalilandlaw.com.
JANUARY 2007
SomalilandLaw.com Editorial 26 January 2007 - Detaining Journalists under “Insult” laws is an insult to the Somaliland Constitution
- See also the linked article: Using Insult Laws is an Insult to the Somaliland Media and Public – the detention and trial of Haatuf Journalists (20/1/2007) written before the Appeal Court decision.
SEPTEMBER 2006
- Somalilandlaw.com Editorial 07/09/06- Somaliland: Time for Corrections and Police Services rather than Forces. Recently a military court tried prison officers for dereliction of duty. This Editorial urges the Somaliland Parliament and Government to sweep away the past dicatorship’s militarisation of the prisons officers and the police. As the Government is about to formalise the ranks of the Somaliland Armed Forces, the editorial says no more police or prisons “generals” or “colonels” and back to the Somaliland ranks of Commissioner, superintendent etc for the police and prison services ..... Read further.
- NEW CHIEF JUSTICE: The Presidential Statement announcing a major cabinet re-shuffle issued on Sunday, 6th August 2006 included the president’s nomination of the new Chief Justice (Supreme Court Chairman), who was said to be Mr Mohamed Hersi Ismail (Oomane). Mr Ismail assumed office on 14 August 2006. Under Article 105(1) of the Somaliland Constitution, the appointment has to be confirmed at a joint sitting of both Houses, which took place on Monday, 3 September 2006. The two Houses (on a vote of 114 for, 1 against and 2 abstaining) confirmed the appointment. Mr Ismail trained in Egypt and served as a District and Regional Judge in the 1970s and 80s. Somalilandlaw.com welcomes Mr Ismail’s appointment and sincerely hopes that his appointment will last considerably longer than those of his recent predecessors. Mr Ismail is the third Chief Justice appointed by President Rayaale since the latter took office in May 2002.
AUGUST 2006:
- President Rayaale announced major changes in his cabinet on 6 August 2006 including the re-appointment of 5 ministers to different ministerial posts. In a radio interview recently, the President opined that these ministerial “re-appointments” do not require House of Representatives’ confirmation: Somalilandlaw.com comments ... (29/08/2006) .
- As confirmed recently (on 14 August 2006) by the Acting Chief Justice on the occasion of the transfer of office to the new Chief Justice, Somaliland has now 33 functioning courts of law staffed by 87 judges. In August a number of these judicial appointments and transfers made by the Judicial Commission were announced by the Minister of Justice. The Report, in Somali, is here.
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