The main points of the reform of the Algerian Constitution

On 6 September the Council of Ministers approved the bill to revise the Algerian Constitution. The version of the new Constitution was presented to parliament last Thursday and the president of the National People's Assembly (APN), Slimane Chenine, announced that the latest version amending the law was unanimously approved by the 256 members of the Assembly, of 462.

The Algerian government has announced the completion of the new version, which is supposed to meet the aspirations of the popular protest movement Hirak. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said that "the project is in line with the requirements of modern state building and responds to the demands of the truly blessed popular Hirak". This constitutional revision aims to break with the 20-year reign of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who resigned from power in April last year.​​​​​​​

In addition, the draft revision of the Constitution includes a series of proposals revolving around six axes: "fundamental rights and public freedoms"; "strengthening the separation and balance of powers"; "independence of the judiciary"; abolition and replacement of the "Constitutional Council" by a "Constitutional Court" and the "Independent National Electoral Authority".

Some of the new proposals included in the text are:

• Limiting the parliamentary mandate to two terms: the presidential election period was defined as two non-renewable cycles, either consecutive or separate. This measure is intended to prevent the country's leader from remaining in power for more than four years.
• Constitutionalisation of the people's movement, Hirak, 22 February 2019 in the preamble
• Constitutionalisation of Algeria's participation in United Nations-sponsored peacekeeping operations.This measure has sparked certain controversies, as the text opens the way to a possible deployment of the Algerian army abroad, "in the framework of the United Nations, the African Union and the Arab League". It will be the head of state who will decide whether to send military units abroad after approval by a two-thirds majority of each chamber of parliament. In the same vein, Algeria's participation in restoring peace in the region in the framework of the bilateral agreements of the countries concerned has been included in the Magna Carta.
• Possibility for the President of the Republic to appoint a Vice-President.
• More power for the prime minister and parliament to govern the country
• The Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of the Supreme Court will no longer be part of the High Council of the Judiciary.

On fundamental rights and public freedoms, the new Constitution states that public institutions and authorities must respect the constitutional provisions on public foundations and freedoms. In addition, within fundamental rights they also speak of freedom of the press in all its forms and the prohibition of prior control of this freedom.  The independence of the judiciary is also a key issue in the reform of the Constitution and the principle of independence of the judiciary will be reinforced with the abolition and replacement of the "Constitutional Council" by a "Constitutional Court" which will have the task of monitoring the decisions of the three authorities: legislative, executive and judicial, in order to avoid the constitutional vacuum left after Bouteflika's resignation in April 2019. 

One of the most controversial issues and the focus of the citizens' movement was the denunciation of a corrupt political class. This call from the citizens has been heard and is one of the axes of the new constitutional text where it establishes that the 'Authority of Transparency, prevention and fight against corruption' will be formed, as well as the prohibition of accumulation between public functions and private activities or the refusal to create public employment if it does not respond to a need of general interest.

The popular referendum on the draft reform of the Constitution will take place on 1 November. The choice of this day has a symbolic meaning, as it marks the beginning of the war for independence against France in 1954, and is intended to mark a new stage for the North African country.

Since mid-December 2019, Tebboune has been president of the Republic of Algeria, and on taking office he undertook to revise the country's fundamental law, tailored to his predecessor Bouteflika. Several NGOs, such as 'Article 19' have denounced this revision of the text as just a "fix" and as being done through "an undemocratic, unilateral and non-participatory process". Jurists and human rights defenders, grouped in the Pact for a Democratic Alternative (PAD), denounced this constitution as a "laboratory", calling the referendum a "confiscation".