Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Ivory Coast

The Good Samaritan: compassion and protection

Drawn from the Bible (Luke 10:25-37), the parable of the Good Samaritan tells of a traveller left for dead who is rescued by a stranger that tends to him and sees to his care. Beyond its religious context, it carries a universal message: the moral duty to help others in danger, through compassion and altruism.

Inspired by this principle, many so-called Good Samaritan laws have been enacted around the world to protect those who assist in good faith during an emergency from legal action. The exact scope of that protection, however, varies from one jurisdiction to another: here is what the law applicable to your region provides.

Statute citation

Governing act Penal Code (Law No. 2019-574 of 26 June 2019), Article 391 — failure to render assistance / non-assistance to a person in peril. As a Francophone civil-law jurisdiction, the code imposes an affirmative duty to assist.
Scope of protection Penalizes anyone who voluntarily abstains from giving a person in peril the assistance he could provide, without risk to himself or third parties, whether by his own action or by summoning help. The duty binds everyone; penalties are doubled where the offender had a professional or contractual duty to assist.
Duty to rescue Yes
Penalty for failure to assist Imprisonment of 3 months to 5 years and a fine of 50,000 to 500,000 CFA francs (FCFA/XOF). Penalties are doubled (up to 10 years and 1,000,000 FCFA) where a professional or contractual duty to assist existed.
AED liability protection No
Legal duty to rescue applies

Your protection under the law

In Côte d'Ivoire, coming to another's aid is a legal obligation, not a mere moral option. Article 391 of the Penal Code (Law No. 2019-574 of 26 June 2019) penalizes non-assistance to a person in peril and binds everyone, professional or not. The law punishes anyone who voluntarily withholds from a person in peril the help they could give without risk to themselves or others, whether by direct action or by summoning aid; penalties are doubled where a professional or contractual duty to act existed.

Duty to rescue

This duty carries real weight: failing it is punishable by three months to five years' imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 to 500,000 CFA francs, doubled where a professional or contractual duty applied. Ivorian law does not seek to intimidate but to affirm that no life should be lost for want of an act one could have performed. What remains is knowing how to act — and that is where training turns duty into skill.

Why training matters

In cardiac arrest, every minute without resuscitation cuts the victim's chance of survival by roughly 10 percent. In Côte d'Ivoire, where response times vary widely from one region to another, the first witness is far more than a spectator — they are the first link in the chain of survival. Training in CPR and first aid means acquiring the right actions and the composure needed not to freeze at the most critical moment. One trained citizen is one more life that can be saved.