Widening the Gap. the Role of National Power Dynamics in the Disconnect between Penitentiary Law Reform and Practices in Niger

Using Niger’s penitentiary system as a case study, this paper illustrates how reformers’ emphasis on legal texts, viewed as a prerequisite to implementation but disconnected from institutional dynamics and power relations, has widened the gap between norms and practices. Since the 1990s, several reforms have taken place, culminating in a major overhaul of penitentiary laws in the 2010s led by the Ministry of Justice, with support from the EU-funded Program for Justice and the Rule of Law. While prison regulations were previously governed by decrees, this reform introduced the first law on the prison system, supplemented by decrees and regulations. These new texts, which retained many provisions from the earlier decree, expanded detainees’ rights, such as increasing the number of meals provided or clarifying disciplinary rules – reflecting a stacking of norms (Darbon 2003, Bierschenk 2014) common in the development sector in Africa.

These reforms were adopted in a context marked by strong military influence over institutional dynamics, marginalizing the Ministry of Justice in terms of influence, capacity, and resources. This (im)balance is evident in the prison system: while the Ministry is theoretically responsible for detainees, budgets, and administration, the National Guard of Niger (GNN), a military body, is the sole actor deployed in prison.

Since legal texts only have value based on the importance assigned to them (Le Roy 2005), prison realities remain unaffected. The adopted texts, supported by 'external reformers' (Olivier de Sardan 2021), blinded by a situated, positivist view and by predetermined power relations, and committed but powerless internal reformers, had no influence on the prison system. The GNN disregarded the texts, leading to a deeper disconnect between written norms and on-the-ground realities. This paper is based on data collected during doctoral research from 2018 to 2023 (defended in 2024).