Code Pénal, unauthorised access to and interference with a computer system
Loi n°001/PR/2017 du 8 mai 2017 portant Code Pénal Livre 6, Chapitre 2 (De la cybercriminalité), Section 1, Sous-sections 1-2 (art. 429-431), codifying Loi n°009/PR/2015 du 10 février 2015 relative à la cybersécurité et à la lutte contre la cybercriminalité
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.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 7 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not access, or attempt to access, a computer system by fraudulent means, and do not fraudulently remain in, hinder, falsify, or introduce data into one.
- Reading a public, unauthenticated page without defeating any access control has not itself been held to violate these provisions.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionNo
Criminal exposure note
Imprisonment of one to five years and a fine of 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 CFA francs, or one of those two penalties only, on conviction under each of art. 429, 430, or 431.
Penalty structure
Fine only; each article also allows imprisonment of one to five years instead of or in addition to the fine.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 7 September 2026
- Currency
- XAF
- Fixed cap
- 10,000,000
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 429 punishes any person who accesses or attempts to access, fraudulently, all or part of a computer system, and the same person who fraudulently procures or attempts to procure, for themselves or another, any advantage by entering a computer system. Article 430 punishes fraudulently remaining or attempting to remain in all or part of a computer system, and hindering, falsifying, or attempting to hinder or falsify the operation of a computer system.
Article 431 punishes fraudulently introducing or attempting to introduce data into a computer system. Each offence carries imprisonment of one to five years and a fine of 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 CFA francs, or one of those two penalties only. Because each offence's trigger is fraudulent access, entry, or introduction, a scraper reading a public, unauthenticated page without defeating any access control falls outside a plain reading of these provisions. This chapter codifies the offences originally created by Loi n°009/PR/2015 on cybersecurity and cybercrime.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
Text of the Code Pénal (Loi n°001/PR/2017) reproduced by droit-afrique.com, an unofficial commercial mirror
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