Justice Annie Noelle Bahounoui Batende is the new President of the Special Criminal Court, SCC
The fifty-eight-year old Magistrate was appointed Monday August 10 by Presidential decree, at the close of the Higher Judicial Council meeting chaired by the Head of State, Paul Biya.
Justice Annie Noelle Batende is not a new comer at the Special Criminal Court. She has been working at the jurisdiction as an examining magistrate.
Serving in this capacity, Annie Noelle Batende gained public attention in 2014 when she signed the remand warrant of the then Minister of Secondary Education, late Louis Bapes Bapes though the latter spent a single night in prison.
The new President of the Special Criminal Court hails from Ndikinimeki, a locality in the Mbam and Inoubou Division in the Centre region of Cameroon.
After obtaining her Baccalaureat certificate at Lycee General Leclerc in Yaounde, Justice Annie Noelle flied to France where she studied law at the Paris Malakoff University after which she obtained a certificate in specialized higher education in law, DESS.
She returned to Cameroon and got admitted at the National School of Administration and Magistracy in 1998.
She graduates in 1990 and is integrated into the public service the same year.
Anni Noelle Batende begins her career as a magistrate at the Public Prosecutor’s Office. She is thus assigned to work as deputy prosecutor in Nkongsamba, Littoral region after which she is appointed President of the Court of First Instance of Douala-Bonanjo.
After Douala, the grade 4 Magistrate moves to Mbalmayo where she is President of the First and High Courts.
In 2010, she is appointed Vice-President of the Court of Appeal for the South region. It is from there that she was promoted to the Special Criminal Court.
She replaces Emmanuel Njere who served as second President of the Special Criminal Court for three years in replacement of Yap Abdou.
The Special Criminal Court was created by the Head of State in 2011 by law no 2011/028 of 3rd December 2011.
Its principal mission is to fight against embezzlement of public funds, corruption and ensure speed in judicial proceedings and restitution of property and it limits its influence on cases involving 50 million francs CFA and above.
The Court works in synergy with the Anti-Corruption Commission CONAC, the National Agency for Financial Investigations, ANIF, the Supreme State Audit Office CONSUPE , the Public Works Regulatory Agency ARMP, Ministerial Anti-Corruption Units, the Public contract Tender Board and the Audit Branch of the Supreme Court.
