Last Change:
05/28/2025
Liberian Penal Law (1976)
Year: 1976
Type: Domestic law
Rights Category: Asylum, Education, Freedom of movement, Health, Housing, land & property, Liberty & security of person, Nationality & facilitated naturalization, Social protection, Work & Workplace rights, Family life, Documentation
Description
Provides a comprehensive system of penal law. Part I contains definitions of culpability and complicity, including corporate criminal liability (s. 3.2). Part II defines specific offenses, including offenses against civil rights (Chapter 13). Specifically, a person who commits an act of prejudice against another person because of their race, or the race of their spouse, is guilty of a first degree misdemeanor. Termination of an employee within sixty days of his marriage to a person of a different race shall give rise to the presumption that the termination was discriminatory because of the race of the spouse. Corporations guilty of two discrimination offences may be dissolved. Part III prescribes specific penalties and punishments, including the death penalty (s. 50.5).
Selected provisions
Liberian Penal Law (1976) - Generic
1 Offense. A person is guilty of kidnapping if he unlawfully removes
another from his place of residence or business, or a substantial distance
from the vicinity where he is found, or if he unlawfully confines another
for substantial period in a place of isolation, with any of the following
purposes:
(a) To hold for ransom or reward;
(b) To use him as a shield or hostage;
(c) To hold him in a condition of involuntary servitude;
(d) To facilitate commission of any felony or flight thereafter;
(e) To inflict bodily injury on or to terrorize the victim or another; or
(f) To interfere with the performance of any governmental or political function.
2. Grading. Kidnapping is a felony of the first degree unless the actor
voluntarily releases the victim alive and in a safe place prior to trial, in
which case it is a felony of the second degree.
3. When removal or confinement is unlawful. A removal or confine-
ment is unlawful within the meaning of this section if it is accomplished
by force, threat, or deception, or, in the case of a person who is under the
age of 14 or incompetent, if it is accomplished without the consent of a
parent, guardian or other person responsible for general supervision of
his welfare.
A person commits a felony of the third degree if he knowingly:
(a) Restrains another unlawfully in circumstances exposing him to
risk or serious bodily injury; or
(b) Restrains another with the purpose of holding him in a
condition of involuntary servitude.