government: presidential republic

state of civil and political rights: Partly free

constitution: 7 May 2010 (Loi Fundamentale)

legal system: based on French and customary law

legislative system: the legislature was dissolved by junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara in December 2008 and in February 2010, the Transition Government appointed a 155 member National Transition Council (CNT) that has since acted in the legislature's place

judicial system: Court of First Instance or Tribunal de Premiere Instance; Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme

religion: Muslim 85%, Christian 8%, indigenous beliefs 7%

death row: 12 (end 2016)

year of last executions: 21-4-2001

death sentences: 0

executions: 0

situation:
On 31 Mai 2017, the National Assembly of Guinea adopted at the unanimity a new military criminal code abolishing the death penalty also for military crimes.
On 4 July 2016, the Parliament of Guinea adopted a new penal code and a new penal procedure code, removing the death sentence from the list of applicable penalties. The maximum sentence will henceforth be life imprisonment, which cannot exceed 30 years.
The new criminal framework adopted also implements the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which Guinea ratified on 14 July 2003. The law also incorporates in the Penal Code acts of torture as an autonomous offense, pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment that Guinea ratified on 10 October 1989.
On 23 May 2015, after three years of work, the proposed amendments to the Penal Code were validated in a ceremony held in Kindia. In his speech the Minister of Justice, Mrs. Cheik Sacko, remarked that, in a State governed by the Rule of Law, it was important that legislation and judicial norms were “in line with international commitments, conventions and treaties that Guinea has ratified.”
In 2016, no death sentences were recorded in Guinea, where 12 people were under sentence of death at the end of the year.
The the last executions were carried out in 2001, after a de facto moratorium lasting since 1984. Eight people were executed in two separate cases: five people sentenced to death for murder, were put to death on 5 February, and three people sentenced to death for armed robbery, were shot on 21 April.

United Nations
On 20 January 2015, Guinea was reviewed under the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council. The Government rejected the recommendations to immediately establish a de jure moratorium on executions with a view to definitely abolishing death penalty and adhering to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. However, Guinea reiterated its determination to observe the de facto moratorium, adding that it intends, in due course, to secure the abolition of the death penalty by means of a national campaign.
On 19 December 2016, Guinea voted, for the first time, in favor of the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the UN General Assembly. It previously abstained.