Mali

1. Composition and structure

Number of members:

One First President, one Vice-president, one attorney general, three presidents of section, thirty five councilllors, two "Commissaires du Gouvernement" and three public prosecutors.

Recruitment procedures and incompatibilies:

The First President, the Vice-president, the attorney general, the presidents of section, the councillors and the deputy prosecutors are appointed by decree taken in the Council of Ministers. The First President and the Vice president are appointed upon the favourable advice of the Superior Council of Magistrature.
All the members are chosen amongst persons possessing a recognized competence in judicial, administrative, or financial matters, a moral integrity above all suspicion and a correct physical and psychical fitness.
The functions of member of the Supreme Court are incompatible with the functions of minister, member of parliament, director of a State corporation, with all administrative functions and all private professional activity, except the derogations established by the law.

Internal organization:

The Supreme Court is composed of three sections:
- judicial section;
- administrative section;
- accounting section.

The judicial section is subdivided into five chambers:
- two civil chambers;
- one commercial chamber;
- one criminal chamber;
- one social chamber.

The administrative section is subdivided into two chambers: a chamber in charge of public law disputes and a consultative chamber.

The accounting section is subdivided into two chambers: a chamber of litigations and of budgetary discipline and a chamber auditing the accounts and supervising the public corporations.
The First President is responsible for the administration and the discipline of the Supreme Court. He is assisted by the board of the Court. The board is chaired by the First President and is composed of the Vice president, the attorney general, the presidents of section and the secretary general. The President is authorized to pass accounts and is assisted by an administrative.

2. Jurisdictional attributions and advice

2.1. Court functions

Jurisdiction:

The Supreme Court is the highest judge in civil, commercial and criminal affairs. Its function is to examine the legality of the rulings of which it is seized.
The Court is judge of appeal of all the judgments pronounced in first instance by the administrative tribunals. It is competent to hear, in first and last resort, certain actions. It may be seized of petitions for cassation against the rulings in last resort of administrative authorities having a jurisdictional function. The court checks the public accounts and the financial management of the civil servants and of the private law corporations in which the State or the public authorities possess a financial participation.

Organization of the courts system:

The judicial section acts, in the matters for which it is competent, as judge of cassation. The administrative section intervenes either in first and last instance, in appeal or in cassation.

Powers of the judge:

In civil, commercial, social and criminal matters, the Court has mainly a power of annulment. In administrative matters, it can annul, reverse and award damages.

2.2. Advisory functions

Existence and extent of an advisory authority:

The Court gives its advice on every bill, draft of decree or on any other question on which its intervention is provided for by the law. It may, on its own initiative, submit to the public authorities any legal or administrative reform which it thinks necessary for the general interest.

Authority and publicity of the advisory opinions:

The advisory opinions of the Court are transmitted to the head of the government.