Statute

Statute

The Statute of

 The Union of Arab Constitutional Courts & Councils

According to the preparatory meeting which was held in Cairo from 25 to 26 February, 1997 and the constituent congress which was held in Algiers city from 25 to 26 June, 1997, the constitutional courts and councils in the following Arab countries:

  1. The Republic of Tunisia
  2. The Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria
  3. The Republic of Sudan
  4. The State of Palestine
  5. The State of Kuwait
  6. The Republic of Lebanon
  7. The Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiria
  8. The Arab Republic of Egypt
  9. The Kingdom of Morocco
  10. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania
  11. The Republic of Yemen

 

Hereinafter referred to as “the founding members,” in order to consolidate the bonds of brotherhood and friendship between them, establish the concepts of constitutional judiciary in the Arab world and its role in protecting  public rights and freedoms and supremacy of the Constitution, facilitate the exchange of experiences and enrich the constitutional knowledge of those specialized in constitutional judiciary, and willing to establish an Arab organization for the constitutional courts and councils and similar organizations and  strengthen its role on the regional and international levels,

Agreed on the following:

Chapter One

Establishment of the Union

Article 1

A union shall be established between the constitutional and supreme courts and constitutional councils that assume constitutional judiciary in the member states. This union shall be called “the Union of Arab Constitutional Courts and Councils” hereinafter referred to as “the Union.”

 

Article 2

The Union shall have a legal personality; it shall be represented by the president of the Union or his substitute.

 

Article 3

The permanent headquarters of the Union shall be in Cairo.

 

Chapter Two

The Union’s Objectives

Article 4

The Union’s objectives are:

  1. a)      Organizing and developing cooperation between its members and strengthening relations between them
  2. b)    Exchanging ideas and knowledge in the constitutional judiciary field
  3. c)     Encouraging researches and legal studies concerning constitutional judiciary, especially those relating to human rights and contributing to spreading constitutional culture in Arab societies
  4. d)    Organizing and developing cooperation between the Union and similar organizations in other states and finding new possibilities and forms for such cooperation
  5. e)     Participation in international conferences concerning constitutional judiciary
  6. f)      Standardization of the constitutional terminology in Arab countries
  7. g)     Presenting opinions and advice in the constitutional field upon the Arab countries request
  8. h) Contributing to enriching international constitutional thought from an Arab Islamic perspective.

Article 5

The Union will achieve its objectives by all means, especially through:

  1. Issuance of a periodical magazine to publish constitutional and legal studies and researches and what is issued by the bodies concerned with constitutional judiciary
  2. Exchanging judgments and decisions issued by the bodies concerned with constitutional judiciary
  3. Convening conferences and symposiums to present and discuss constitutional researches and studies
  4. Exchanging visits
  5. Encouragement of authoring, translation and publishing in the constitutional judiciary field
  6. Establishing a legal and comprehensive library in the Union’s headquarters, provided with Arab and comparative legal publications especially concerning constitutional judiciary, and creating a digital library in the context of developing the Union website as a tool for communication and dissemination of constitutional culture.

 

Chapter Three

The Union’s Membership

Article 6

All founding members as well as those accepted as members of the Union by the General Assembly decision are considered members of the Union in accordance with the provisions of this statute.

 

Article 7

The Union’s membership shall be terminated in one of the following cases:

  1. Retirement from the Union upon formal notification to the Secretariat General
  2. If one of the members abstains from paying its financial contributions to the Union budget for two consecutive years, unless the General Assembly, by the majority of members present, suspends its membership or gives it additional time to meet its obligations
  3. If the member loses its legal entity or constitutional jurisdiction.

 

Chapter Four

The Union Organs

Article 8

The Union has the following organs:

  1. The General Assembly
  2. The Executive Office
  3. The Secretariat General.

The First Branch

The General Assembly

Article 9

The General Assembly is composed of members of the Union which are the constitutional courts and councils and supreme courts that hold a task of constitutional judiciary.

Article 10

The General Assembly of the Union shall have the following competences:

  1. Establishing the financial system and the rules of procedure of the Union
  2. Setting the plan of activities of the Union for the next session
  3. Authentication of the final account of the last two years and ratification of the budget of the Union for the two coming years, such that budget allocation for each year is made by a decision of the Executive Office
  4. Confirming and developing the ways of cooperation between the Union’s members and similar regional and international bodies
  5. Considering the report of the Union’s president concerning the Union’s various activities, besides considering the financial report prepared by the secretary general
  6. Election of the secretary general of the Union
  7. Ratification of the agreements convened by the Union –within the scope of its purposes- with other regional and international organizations
  8. Deciding admission to the Union membership by a majority of the members present
  9. Appointing an auditor at the Union upon the suggestion of the Executive Office
  10. Discussing and reporting any topics suggested by the Executive Office
  11. The General Assembly may form sub-committees composed of the Union members and recourse to experts to study specific topics.

 

Article 11

The General Assembly shall meet in an ordinary session once every two years, and it may convene for an extraordinary session upon the request of one third of the Union members or upon a suggestion of the Executive Office.

The General Assembly shall determine the place of the next session by the end of each session.

 

Article 12

The meeting of the General Assembly shall be valid by the attendance of the majority of its members; it shall take its decisions by the majority of members present, unless a special quorum is provided for. Each member shall have one vote.

The Secretariat General shall be the rapporteur of the General Assembly.

The Second Branch

The Executive Office

 

Article 13

The Executive Office of the Union is composed of the president -as president of the Executive Office- the vice president of the Union, three members elected by the General Assembly for two years and the secretary general who has not the right to vote.

 

Article 14

The Executive Office of the Union shall have the following competences:

  1. Implementation of the General Assembly decisions
  2. Preparing the draft agenda of the General Assembly and suggesting a topic for the Union scientific symposium after receiving the suggestions of the Union members
  3. Examining the draft budget, passing it to the General Assembly for approval and accepting the donations and bequests consistent with the purposes of the Union
  4. Examining the draft decisions and recommendations
  5. Suggesting the appointment of a Union auditor and presenting this suggestion to the General Assembly
  6. Preparing and organizing conferences and determining the topics to be presented at such conferences and their dates and locations upon the General Assembly decision
  7. Submitting a report to the General Assembly at the beginning of its session including the Union’s activities during the previous two years, the objectives achieved and suggesting means to develop its activity
  8. Ratifying the final account for each financial year and passing it to the General Assembly for approval
  9. Taking enforceable decisions in the urgent matters which arise in between two sessions of the General Assembly, notifying the General Assembly members of those decisions and presenting them to be adopted in the first meeting of the General Assembly
  10. The Executive Office of the Union shall invite any of the constitutional courts and councils and the supreme courts which undertake constitutional judiciary tasks in the Arab states and that are not members to the Union to attend its meetings, upon a request of any of them or upon a suggestion of the Union ordinary General Assembly. It may also invite an international or regional body with a similar activity to attend the Union meetings without the right to vote.

Article 15

The Executive Office shall meet in an ordinary session at the headquarters of the Union or in any member state of the Union once every year upon an invitation of its president.

It may meet in an extraordinary session in case of necessity upon an invitation of its president or upon a suggestion of one of its members after the approval of the majority of its members.

It shall take its decisions after consultation by the available written means of contact.

 

Article 16

The meetings of the Executive Office shall be valid if attended by the absolute majority of its members.

 

Article 17

The president of the Union shall be chosen alternatively and for two years for presidents of the constitutional courts and councils and supreme courts members to the Union according to the alphabetical order of their Arab states.

The president of the next session shall be the vice president of the Union.

 

Article 18

The president of the Union shall be competent to give the order to spend; he may authorize the vice president or the secretary general to do this mission.

 

Article 19

The president of the Union shall exercise his other competences according to the provisions of this statute.

The vice president shall exercise the president competences in case of his absence for any reason.

The Third Branch

The Secretariat General

 

Article 20

The Secretariat General is the executive organ of the Union. It is managed by the secretary general elected for four years by the majority of the members of the General Assembly present.  The General Assembly shall appoint an assistant of the secretary general when it is necessary, and he might be authorized to do some of the secretary general’s missions.

 

Article 21

The Secretariat General shall have the following competences:

  1. Executing the decisions of the General Assembly and the Executive Office
  2. Performing the work of the Secretariat of the sessions of the General Assembly and the Executive Office, record the records of their meetings and prepare the draft agenda for each meeting
  3. Preparing the topics to be submitted to the Executive Office and the General Assembly and the essential documents and reports
  4. Keeping documents
  5. Handling the financial and administrative affairs of the Union
  6. Notifying the members and bodies invited of the invitations, decisions and recommendations issued by the Union organs
  7. Supervising the publishing of the studies, researches, magazines, bulletins and periodicals issued by the Union and observing their distribution
  8. Supervising and updating the Union website.

 

Article 22

The secretary general shall submit a report concerning the Secretariat General activities to the Executive Office at every ordinary session.

 

Article 23

In coordination with the Secretariat General, the court, council or supreme court that hosts the General Assembly meetings shall do the preparatory works and bear the meetings expenses.

 

Article 24

The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt–as the court at the headquarters country – shall assume the Union financial burdens, except those concerning the secretary general remuneration which shall be determined by the General Assembly upon a suggestion of the Executive Office.

 

Chapter Five

Financial Provisions

Article 25

The financial resources of the Union consist of:

  1. Members’ contributions: The rules and amount of such contributions shall be determined according to the applicable rules of the Arab League budget
  2. The donations and bequests and other forms of aid offered by the Arab states, organizations or regional and international bodies in consistence with the purposes of the Union
  3. Revenues generated from the Union activities.

 

Article 26

The financial year of the Union shall begin on the 1st of January of each year and shall terminate on the 31st of December thereof.

Article 27

The financial system of the Union shall indicate how to manage its fund, the regulations of spending, the bases of budgeting, the ways of budget execution and all other financial rules.

 

Chapter Six

General Provisions

Article 28

   All or some of this statute may be amended upon a suggestion of a member of the Union. The amendment shall be effected by a decision of a two–thirds majority of the General Assembly members.

 

Article 29

This statute shall enter into force after being signed by the founding members.

 

Transitional Provisions

Article 30

As an exception from article (17), the president of the Constitutional Council of Algeria will be the president of the Union for the first session starting after this statute is signed.

Final Provisions

This document of the statute was issued of eleven originals in Arabic.

On 21st of Safar, 1418 AH corresponding to 26th of June, 1997 AD, in Algiers city, the representatives of the founding members signed this statute on behalf of:

 

  • The Constitutional Council of the Republic of Tunisia

Mr. Alhadi Bessadek

  • The Constitutional Council of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria

Mr. Dr. Said Bou Shoer

  • The Supreme Court (the Constitutional Chamber) of the Republic of Sudan

Mr. Abeed Haj Ali

  • The Supreme Court of the State of Palestine

Mr. Monther Aldajani

  • The Constitutional Court of the State of Kuwait

Justice/ Kazem Muhammad Almazaidi

  • The Constitutional Council of the Republic of Lebanon

Justice/ Khalid Kabani

  • The Supreme Court of the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiria

Mr. Muhammad Ali Elgedy

  • The Supreme Constitutional Court of the Arab Republic of Egypt

Justice Dr. Awad Muhammad Awad Elmurr

  • The Constitutional Council of the Kingdom of Morocco

Mr. Abbass Alkaissi

  • The Constitutional Council of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania

Mr. Didi Ben Bounaam

  • The Supreme Court of the Republic of Yemen

Mr. Ali Solaiman Ali

 

This statute has been amended at the Union’s General Assembly meeting dated Tuesday 7th of Jamad Al Awwal, 1434 AH corresponding to 19th of March, 2013 AD, in Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain, in the presence of the presidents and members of the Arab constitutional courts and councils and Arab supreme courts members of the Union whose names are mentioned as follows:

  • The Constitutional Court of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
  1. Justice/ Taher Hikmet, president of the Constitutional Court
  2. Justice Dr./ Abdul-qader Al-Tawara, member of the Constitutional Court
  3. Justice Dr./ Mohamed AlGhazwi, member of the Constitutional Court
  • The Federal Supreme Court of the United Arab Emirates
  1. Justice Dr./ Abdulwahhab Abdool, president of the Federal Supreme Court
  2. Justice/ Abdulrahman Murad, director of International Cooperation
  • The Constitutional Court of the Kingdom of Bahrain
  1. Justice/Salem Alkawary, president of the Constitutional Court
  2. Justice Dr. Mohamed Al Meshehedany, vice president of the Constitutional Court
  3. Justice/ Salman Siadi, member of the Constitutional Court
  • The Constitutional Council of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria
  1. Justice/ El Hachemi Addala, member of the Constitutional Council
  2. Justice/ Hocine Daoud, member of the Constitutional Council
  • The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Sudan
  1. Justice/ Somi Zeidan, member of the Constitutional Court
  2. Justice/ Abdelrahman Yagoub, member of the Constitutional Court
  • The Federal Supreme Court of the Republic of Iraq
  1. Justice Dr. / Medhat Al-Mahmood, president of the Federal Supreme Court
  • The Supreme Court of the State of Palestine
  1. Justice/ Sami Sarsour, vice president of the Supreme Court
  2. Justice/ Imad Saad, member of the Supreme Court
  • The Constitutional Court of the State of Kuwait
  1. Justice/ Yousuf Almatawah, vice president of the Constitutional Court
  2. Justice/ Khaled Alwekayan, member of the Constitutional Court
  3. Justice/ Adel Magued, member of the Constitutional Court
  • The Constitutional Council of the Republic of Lebanon
  1. Justice Dr./ Issam Sleiman, president of the Constitutional Council
  2. Justice/ Zaghloul Atiyah, member of the Constitutional Council
  • The Supreme Court of the State of Libya
  1. Justice/ Yousuf Alhenaish, member of the Supreme Court
  2. Justice Dr./Gouma Zrigi, member of the Supreme Court
  3. Justice/ Saad Adam, member of the Supreme Court
  • The Supreme Constitutional Court of the Arab Republic of Egypt
  1. Justice/ Adly Mansour, vice president of the Supreme Constitutional Court
  2. Justice Dr. / Mohamed Elnaggar, president of the Commissioners’ Body of the Supreme Constitutional Court
  • The Constitutional Council of the Kingdom of Morocco
  1. Justice Dr./ Mohamed Acharagui, president of the Constitutional Council and the Union (UACCC)
  2. Justice/ Rachid Medouar, member of the Constitutional Council
  • The Constitutional Council of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
  1. Justice/ Sghair Said, president of the Constitutional Council
  2. Justice/ Cheibany Belloul, member of the Constitutional Council
  3. Justice/ Sidi Baba Ely Robe, secretary general of the Constitutional Council
  • The Supreme Court of the Republic of Yemen
  1. Justice/ Esam Al-Samawi, president of the Supreme Court
  2. Justice/ Ahmed Alkhatabi, member of the Constitutional Chamber
  3. Justice/ Mohamed Mohsen, member of the Supreme Court

 

And the secretary general of the Union:

Justice Dr. Hanafy Ali Gebaly, vice president of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt and secretary general of the Union (UACCC).