View source for Felony

=== Cameroon ===
In the law of Cameroon, a felony is a crime for which the maximum sentence is more than 10 years, or [[capital punishment in Cameroon|death]].<ref>Republic of Cameroon, Law No. 2016/007 of July 12, 2016, Relating to the Penal Code, section 21. Available in [https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/files/live/Cameroon/Cameroon%20-%20Penal%20Code.pdf English] (PDF) and [https://www.droit-afrique.com/uploads/Cameroun-Code-2016-penal1.pdf French] (PDF).</ref> Felonies are distinguished from misdemeanors (maximum sentence from 10 days to 10 years) and offenses (not exceeding 10 days).<ref name="galabe-2018">{{Cite web |last=Galabe |first=Ferdinand Doh |date=January 2018 |title=The Sentencing System under Cameroon Criminal Law |url=https://dayspringlaw.com/the-sentencing-system-under-cameroon-criminal-law/ |access-date=2022-06-08 |publisher=Dayspring Law Firm}}</ref> While lesser crimes are tried before a magistrate's court, felonies must be tried before a high court (''tribunal de grande instance'').<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baaboh |first=Feh Henry |title=The Force of the Cameroon Legal System |url=https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/the-force-of-the-cameroon-legal-system-7156 |access-date=2022-06-08 |publisher=Henry, Samuelson & Co.}}</ref>

The drafters of the bilingual Cameroonian penal code of 1967 based their work on [[French law]] and [[Nigerian law]]. In the case of felonies, they chose to set the threshold for felonies much higher than under either French law (five years) or Nigerian law (three years). This had the effect of greatly reducing the number of felonies under Cameroonian law. It also reduced the number of crimes that were subject to [[Jury trial|trial by jury]] in the courts of East Cameroon at that time.<ref name="smith-1968">{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=J. A. Clarence |date=July 1968 |title=The Cameroon Penal Code: Practical Comparative Law |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/757015 |journal=The International and Comparative Law Quarterly |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=651–671 |doi=10.1093/iclqaj/17.3.651 |jstor=757015 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>