Loi n° 2016-007, accès non autorisé à un système informatique
Loi n° 2016-007 du 20 janvier 2016 relative à la cybercriminalité, arts. 6-7 (accès non autorisé)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force since 20 January 2016.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 5 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not access, or attempt to access, all or part of a computer system intentionally and without right.
- Do not remain connected to all or part of a computer system after accessing it without right.
- Reading a public, unauthenticated page without defeating any technical access control has not itself been construed by a Mauritanian court as access without right.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionNo
Criminal exposure note
One to three years' imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 to 2,000,000 ouguiya, or either penalty alone, for accessing or attempting to access a computer system intentionally and without right (art. 6); two to four years' imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 to 3,000,000 ouguiya, or either penalty alone, for remaining connected to it in the same conditions (art. 7).
Penalty structure
Article 7's ceiling for remaining connected without right (200,000 to 3,000,000 ouguiya), the heavier of the two offences; article 6's unauthorised-access offence carries a lower fine band of 100,000 to 2,000,000 ouguiya. Both also carry imprisonment of up to four years instead of or alongside the fine. Amounts are stated in ouguiya as denominated before Mauritania's 2018 currency redenomination.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 5 September 2026
- Currency
- MRO
- Fixed cap
- 3,000,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Mauritanian judicial authorities, per the general criminal procedure the law incorporates
What it reaches
Obligation class
Access restriction
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Article 6 punishes anyone who accesses or attempts to access, intentionally and without right, all or part of a computer system, with one to three years' imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 to 2,000,000 ouguiya, or either penalty alone. Article 7 punishes remaining, or attempting to remain, connected to all or part of a computer system in the same conditions with a heavier penalty of two to four years' imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 to 3,000,000 ouguiya, or either penalty alone.
Neither article states that the offence requires defeating a technical security measure to gain access, unlike some comparable statutes elsewhere; the standard is only that the access be intentional and without right, so a plain reading leaves open whether reading a public, unauthenticated page without any technical control to defeat counts as access without right, and no reported Mauritanian decision has construed the phrase.
Article 2 confines the statute to offences linked to the use of information and communication technologies and excludes sound and television broadcasting services from its scope. Article 52 ties the law's execution to publication in the Official Gazette, immediately after the President's promulgation dateline of 20 January 2016.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
Official French text of Loi n° 2016-007
hosted by the Mauritanian Ministry of Finance's compendium of texts relevant to its own mission (finances.gov.mr)