By Asha Elmi - Reporter
Qatar, 8 December 2025 - Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud speaking at a panel discussion at the Doha Forum on Sunday said that justice systems in post-colonial states must be rooted in local values and accepted by the public to function effectively.
“We have inherited a colonial justice system that does not transcend to our way of life, our culture, our values,” he said. Somalia, he noted, absorbed multiple colonial legal frameworks after independence, but “it didn’t work for us for some time.”
Mohamud said Somalia’s federal system aims to bring justice closer to citizens. “The people must have access to justice in the farthest corner of the country,” he stated. He added that, as a 100 per cent Sunni Muslim society, Somalis expect the system to “respond to their values and beliefs.”
He stressed that traditional, often unwritten, customary laws still hold social legitimacy. “Traditional laws are laws that have been accepted by the people, even if not written,” he said, arguing they must be integrated where compatible with modern governance.
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Youth participation is also essential, he said. “When a law is to be established, it has to go to the people. They need to feel they own the laws.”
Mohamud said public trust depends on independence from political interference. “Trust is earned. You cannot impose trust,” he said.
Somalia, he noted, is building institutions such as an independent Judicial Service Commission, a human rights commission, anti-corruption bodies, and financial-crime structures to allow citizens to seek redress without political influence.
“These structures provide places the people can go without relying on ministers or parliamentarians,” he said.
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