Judicial police officers occupy a pivotal position in Cameroon’s criminal justice system, exercising investigative powers conferred by the Criminal Procedure Code of 2005. Their functions are indispensable to the administration of justice, yet they continue to raise persistent concerns regarding legality, accountability, and protection of human rights. This paper undertakes a legal appraisal of the role, oversight, and violence surrounding judicial police officers under Cameroonian criminal law. It interrogates the gap between statutory supervision by prosecutors, judges and the limited effectiveness of existing oversight mechanisms, which remain largely internal and susceptible to executive influence. The study further examines the dual dimension of violence: firstly, abuses perpetrated by judicial police officers against suspects, such as arbitrary arrests, detention, ill-treatment, and secondly, violence endured by these officers themselves in conflict-affected areas and high-risk operations. The analysis demonstrates how weak accountability structures and inadequate protective measures simultaneously undermine both human rights and compromise the legitimacy of law enforcement. The paper concludes by advancing reform proposals aimed at strengthening independent oversight, judicial supervision, and improving the protection of officers thereby aligning policing practice with the rule of law and democratic governance.
Umarou et al. (Fri,) studied this question.