Criminal law is a branch of law that deals with crimes, their punishments, and the procedure involved in prosecuting crimes from arrest, trial, and sentencing. It encompasses a wide range of offences, from minor offences to serious crimes such as felonies and misdemeanors, capital and non-capital offences such as murder, theft, fraud, domestic violence, sexual offences, and gender-based violence.

A crime committed by an individual against another person is considered an offence against the State or Government. Therefore, government agencies such as the Prosecution Unit of the Gambia Police Force, the Attorney General’s Chambers, and the Drug Law Enforcement Agency, just to name a few, are well positioned to arrest and bring suspects before a competent court of jurisdiction for trial and sentencing.

To every accusation, there is often a defence. Therefore, suspects and alleged offenders have a right to legal representation of their choice through the services of defence lawyers — from pre-trial at the police level, to the trial phase in court, and post-sentencing.

The State, by an Act of Parliament, has created a national legal aid clinic to assist accused persons with legal representation, particularly those unable to afford the cost of a private lawyer for grievous offences such as capital offences.

It is interesting to note that an individual can arrest a person suspected of committing, or who has committed, a crime and hand the suspect to the police forthwith under the Laws of The Gambia, specifically the Criminal Procedure Code, 2009.

Interestingly, the same Code makes provisions for individuals to file a charge in court without the help of the police prosecution unit. However, this may not be applicable at the superior courts, where lawyers and state counsels have a right of audience before the High Courts of The Gambia.