Somalia's courts: the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court and how the judiciary works

What the courts do

The courts hold the judicial power of the Federal Republic of Somalia (Provisional Constitution 2012, Article 105, via Constitute Project). The constitution says judges are independent of the government and parliament and answer only to the law. A judge cannot be sued or prosecuted for a ruling made as a judge (Article 106).

Hearings are public by default. A court may close a hearing for national security, children, rape cases or to protect witnesses. Every side must be heard before a decision, and decisions must give reasons (Article 107).

How the courts are arranged

The 2012 constitution sets three tiers (Article 108):

1. The Constitutional Court, which rules on the meaning of the constitution.
2. Federal courts, led by the federal high court, now called the Supreme Court.
3. Member-state courts, each led by the state's own high court.

Cases that involve the federal government go to a federal court. Any court can decide whether a case raises a constitutional question and pass it to the Constitutional Court (Article 109).

Under the amended constitution of 2026, each member state and the Banadir Regional Administration (Mogadishu) has an appeal court whose president sits on the national Supreme Judicial Council (Dawan Africa, 23 July 2026). Below the appeal courts sit regional and district courts, a pattern that goes back to the court law of the 1960s (Judiciary of Somalia, Wikipedia).

The Constitutional Court

The 2012 text provides for five judges, including a Chief Judge and a Deputy. Judges must know both law and sharia and the constitution. They are proposed by the judicial oversight body, approved by the House of the People, and appointed by the President (Article 109B).

The court can check a draft law on request of the cabinet, parliamentary committees or ten members of either house. It alone settles disputes between member states, or between a state and the federal government. It also hears disputes between federal bodies about their powers, and impeachment cases against the President (Article 109C). The March 2026 amendments set out the court's rules in more detail (ConstitutionNet, International IDEA, 7 April 2026).

Who oversees judges

The 2012 constitution created a nine-member Judicial Service Commission to appoint, discipline and transfer federal judges and set their pay (Article 109A). Parliament passed its founding law in June 2014 (Judiciary of Somalia, Wikipedia).

The 2026 constitution places this work with a Supreme Judicial Council under Article 145. Its members by office are the Chief Justice, the President of the Constitutional Court, the Attorney General, the presidents of the state appeal courts and of the Banadir appeal court, and the chair of the Human Rights Commission. Four more members, two senior lawyers and two legal experts, serve five-year terms. The cabinet approved the four nominees in July 2026 (Dawan Africa, 23 July 2026).

Chief Justices since 2009

• Mohamed Omar Farah, December 2009 to November 2010
• Aidid Abdullahi Ilka-Hanaf, April 2011 to May 2016
• Ibrahim Idle Suleiman, May 2016 to May 2018
• Bashe Yusuf Ahmed, May 2018 to 2026
• Ibrahim Idle Suleiman, sworn in again on 7 November 2026

Sources: Judiciary of Somalia, Wikipedia; Dawan Africa, November 2026.

In the news, November 2026

In early November 2026, five judges of the Supreme Court's Constitutional Division ruled that the terms of the President, parliament and federal government had ended. They asked political leaders to agree an electoral model within 30 days. The Attorney General's office said the ruling had no legal effect because the Chief Justice had not chaired the panel. Opposition groups backed the ruling (Dawan Africa, November 2026).

Other systems people use

Most disputes in Somalia never reach a state court. Families and communities often settle them through xeer, the Somali customary law, or through sharia judges. See Xeer: Somali customary law. Somaliland and Puntland run their own court systems under their own constitutions.

How to use the courts

• Start locally: most civil and criminal cases begin at the district court where you live.
• Appeal: a ruling can go to the regional or state appeal court, and then to the Supreme Court.
• A constitutional question: the government, a person or a group can apply to the Constitutional Court on a matter of public interest (Article 109).

Its legal basis

Chapter 9 of the 2012 Provisional Constitution (Articles 105 to 109C), as amended in March 2026, including Article 145 on the Supreme Judicial Council.