Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, said on Tuesday that the vision of a “new, victorious Algeria” cannot be fully realized without the presence of an effective, independent, and highly respected constitutional judiciary, which possesses the legal and procedural tools necessary to curb any overreach and prevent any interpretation that might undermine the supremacy of the Constitution or diminish the essence of individual and collective freedoms guaranteed by the country’s fundamental law.
“We have committed ourselves, since the historic turning point of the constitutional amendment of November 2020, to making the Constitutional Court a cornerstone of institutional stability and a safeguard for genuine democratic practice,” Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said in an address to the 3rd International Conference on “The Role of Constitutional Review in the Protection of Rights and Freedoms in Algeria and Comparative Systems.”
In this regard, President Tebboune stressed that the convening of this forum is a renewal of the pledge made to the Algerian people to build a state of law and justice—a state whose foundations rest on the absolute supremacy of the Constitution and the authority of its provisions, and which makes the protection of rights and freedoms a firmly established guiding principle in the work of all its institutions.
“A pledge to build a state in which no one is wronged—a state founded on the absolute supremacy of the Constitution, and which makes the protection of fundamental rights and the promotion of freedoms a deeply rooted guiding principle that permeates the conscience and actions of all the institutions of the Republic, without exception,” the President said, adding that this pledge “draws its spirit from the ‘Declaration of 1 November 1954,’ that historic document which re-established the Algerian state as a democratic and social state. The November Declaration served as the ‘first constitution’ of the revolution and the liberation struggle, and today it stands as the moral and political reference for building the ‘new Algeria’ and for consolidating the true meaning of citizenship.”
The Constitution is a Living Document
President Tebboune noted that the constitutional and legal reform process in Algeria is marked by courage and pragmatism. From this standpoint, the latest partial constitutional amendment was introduced to address certain provisions in which practical experience and field application had revealed shortcomings. This necessitated intervention to revise these texts in order to ensure their alignment with society’s aspirations and to prevent any interpretation that could hinder the effectiveness of constitutional institutions or undermine the essence of freedoms.
“This is evidence that our Constitution is a ‘living document’ that evolves with the evolution of the nation and does not remain static,” he said.
The Algerian President highlighted that the choice of “The Role of Constitutional Review” as the subject of discussion lies at the very heart of the country’s comprehensive reform project.
“In Algeria, we do not view constitutional review as a dry technical instrument; rather, we regard it as a major sovereign safeguard aimed—first and foremost—at strengthening citizens’ trust in the laws of their Republic. From this perspective, we have ensured that the citizen becomes an active partner in this review mechanism through the ‘the plea of unconstitutionality,’ which we have introduced and procedurally simplified to enable every rights-holder to access constitutional justice with ease and security,” he said.
President Tebboune reiterated that Algeria—while proudly showcasing its national experience and at the same time drawing on comparative legal systems—reaffirms its steadfast belief that the protection and promotion of rights and freedoms are shared human values that transcend geographical boundaries. These values require, more than ever before, close international cooperation to strengthen the guarantees of their protection in the face of rapidly evolving challenges and the profound transformations taking place across the world.
“At this high-level occasion, I would also like to commend the efforts of the Constitutional Court and its commitment to consolidating this annual international tradition, which elevates the standards of national legal reasoning. We look forward with full confidence to the legal insights and innovative proposals that will emerge from your discussions, as well as to the practical recommendations that will serve constitutional justice and strengthen the rule of law in our countries,” he added.
