Algeria: “MPs Call For Tougher Penalties For Impersonating Officials”

The Legal Affairs and Freedoms Committee of the National People’s Assembly has completed the preparation of the preliminary report on the text of the draft of the new Penal Code, which is expected to be presented to the people’s representatives in mid-January next year, and which includes new amendments in the part related to the fight against crime, the improvement of the protection of victims and the punishment of impersonation of state officials and executives.
In the course of two full weeks of sessions dedicated to listening to those involved in the new project, the committee reached a consensus formula on the legal articles in question, similar to Article 40 of the law, which concerns the use of weapons by the policeman in violent confrontations, while keeping others as stated in the government’s text. Similarly to Article 148, despite the reservations raised by lawyers regarding the provision of protection during the performance of their duties, such as what is done with the judge, the employee and the civil servant, the committee considered, according to Echorouk’s sources, that this point is covered in the basic law regarding the lawyer.
Regarding the above mentioned article 40, the committee, using the same sources, reached a consensus formula by proposing to specify the cases in which a policeman uses a weapon in confrontations that may lead to death, which is included in the cases of self-defense, including the policeman confronting a gang, a known criminal or a criminal with a criminal record. The committee also proposed that the judge be given the power to decide whether the case was one of self-defense or murder, which would lead to prosecution.
Other representatives suggested referring the application of this article to the chapter on assault crimes in the text of the draft, which was included in each of articles 144 to 149, which states: “If the violence results in the shedding of blood, injury or illness, or is committed with premeditation, apprehension or while carrying a weapon, the penalties established in the text of this law shall be applied. If the acts are committed with the use of a weapon or result in the mutilation or amputation of a limb, the inability to use it, the loss of sight, the loss of sight in one eye, or any other permanent disability, the penalties provided for in paragraph 2 of article 149 bis, in which the term of imprisonment reaches 15 years, shall be applied.
Article 40 of the bill stipulates that it includes cases of necessity for legitimate defense: “murder, wounding or beating committed by members of the public force during or on the occasion of the exercise of their duties to put an end to the crime, when it is necessary to avert an imminent grave danger to their life or physical safety, or to the life or physical safety of others”.
On the other hand, the deputies insisted in their report on the need to increase the penalties for some new forms of crimes, such as impersonation of high-ranking positions in the state, and called for the necessity of imposing double penalties on these people, especially since recent statistics reveal an escalating increase in crimes of impersonation of high-ranking state officials, which according to them, it damages the credibility of state institutions and their officials.