Tunisia

Tunisia is a representative democracy, a civil state, with an executive president, a legislature and judiciary. The Constitution’s preamble states a paragraph that illustrates the motives to set a new constitutional framework as follows: “With a view to building a republican, democratic and participatory system, in the framework of a civil state founded on the sovereignty of the people, exercised through the peaceful alternation of power through free elections, and on the principle of the separation and balance of powers, which guarantees the freedom of association in conformity with the principles of pluralism, an impartial administration, and good governance, which are the foundations of political competition, where the state guarantees the supremacy of the law and the respect for freedoms and human rights, the independence of the judiciary, the equality of rights and duties between all citizens, male and female, and equality between all regions […] We, in the name of the Tunisian people, with the help of God, draft this Constitution”. The country’s Constitution has supremacy over all other laws. Within Title Five, named ‘The Judicial Authority, Part two regulates the Constitutional Court — an independent judicial body, composed of 12 competent members, three-quarters of whom are legal experts with at least 20 years of experience (article 118) —. This Court’s competence includes overseeing constitutionality of draft laws and treaties, including cases referred to it by lower courts (article 120).