First modification:
The new Superior Council of the Judiciary created by the president of Tunisia, Kaïs Said, issued this February 13 a decree that gives the president the power to fire the country’s judges, block their promotions and prohibit their right to strike. The president consolidates his control after he took executive authority in 2021, an action considered by his opponents as a coup.
The only country where the so-called Arab Spring triumphed is facing a series of blows to democracy.
“End the coup” and “take your hands off the judiciary” are some of the messages shouted by thousands of people protesting in Tunisia against the current president Kaïs Said.
The tiredness of the citizens was unleashed after the president in the last few hours gained greater control over the judiciary. The new Superior Council of the Judiciary ruled this Sunday, February 13, that Said will be able to dismiss judges, block the appointment of magistrates and their promotions, and withdraw their right to strike.
It will also have the authority to propose judicial reforms, effectively giving it exclusive power over the entire justice system.
The decision was issued just after, on February 6, the president dissolved the country’s highest judicial body, which guaranteed judicial independence. And on Saturday, February 12, he appointed a new Council that he assures is provisional, although without a fixed term.
The seizure of judicial power is seen in the country as the last institutional domain that was missing in the hands of the president to consolidate his control.
Paradoxically, Said was a jurist and professor of Constitutional Law before winning the second round of the presidential elections in 2019.
But in August 2021, he suspended Parliament and claimed he could rule by decree.
The president alleged alleged corruption and lack of independence in the judicial system to justify his actions. Said says his actions are necessary to save Tunisia from a “corrupt and selfish elite” who allowed its economy and politics to stagnate for years and brought the state to the brink of collapse.
However, after seizing executive, legislative and judicial authority, his critics accuse him of seeking dictatorial powers and undermining the rule of law.
Fear of wave of dismissals of judges
The president of the Association of Judges of Tunisia, Anas Hamaidi, indicated that he fears that now there could be a wave of dismissals of magistrates in the nation.
“We will advance in the protection of legitimate judicial authority,” he said in a statement, hinting that judges could organize more strikes, after the one registered last week.
Meanwhile, the head of the dissolved Supreme Council, Youssef Bouzakher, rejected the new decree and described it as an “unconstitutional action that ends the guarantees of the independence of the judiciary.”
Against this background, thousands of people went out to protest this Sunday against the president. Many waved flags and chanted slogans such as “Freedom! and ‘End the police state'” in support of an independent judiciary.
“What has happened is the culmination of the coup (…) Tunisia has become a nascent dictatorship after being a nascent democracy,” explained Nadia Salem, one of the protesters.
The International Commission of Jurists noted that the recent decree “consolidates power in the hands of the president and effectively ends any semblance of judicial independence” in the country. “Tunisia returns to its darkest days, when judges were transferred and fired at the whim of the Executive,” he noted.
Said rejects the accusations against him and says that he will supposedly defend the rights and freedoms won in the 2011 revolution, which brought democracy. He maintains that he will submit the choice of a new Constitution in a referendum this summer and that he will call for new parliamentary elections in December this year.
With Reuters and AFP
First modification:
The new Superior Council of the Judiciary created by the president of Tunisia, Kaïs Said, issued this February 13 a decree that gives the president the power to fire the country’s judges, block their promotions and prohibit their right to strike. The president consolidates his control after he took executive authority in 2021, an action considered by his opponents as a coup.
The only country where the so-called Arab Spring triumphed is facing a series of blows to democracy.
“End the coup” and “take your hands off the judiciary” are some of the messages shouted by thousands of people protesting in Tunisia against the current president Kaïs Said.
The tiredness of the citizens was unleashed after the president in the last few hours gained greater control over the judiciary. The new Superior Council of the Judiciary ruled this Sunday, February 13, that Said will be able to dismiss judges, block the appointment of magistrates and their promotions, and withdraw their right to strike.
It will also have the authority to propose judicial reforms, effectively giving it exclusive power over the entire justice system.
The decision was issued just after, on February 6, the president dissolved the country’s highest judicial body, which guaranteed judicial independence. And on Saturday, February 12, he appointed a new Council that he assures is provisional, although without a fixed term.
The seizure of judicial power is seen in the country as the last institutional domain that was missing in the hands of the president to consolidate his control.
Paradoxically, Said was a jurist and professor of Constitutional Law before winning the second round of the presidential elections in 2019.
But in August 2021, he suspended Parliament and claimed he could rule by decree.
The president alleged alleged corruption and lack of independence in the judicial system to justify his actions. Said says his actions are necessary to save Tunisia from a “corrupt and selfish elite” who allowed its economy and politics to stagnate for years and brought the state to the brink of collapse.
However, after seizing executive, legislative and judicial authority, his critics accuse him of seeking dictatorial powers and undermining the rule of law.
Fear of wave of dismissals of judges
The president of the Association of Judges of Tunisia, Anas Hamaidi, indicated that he fears that now there could be a wave of dismissals of magistrates in the nation.
“We will advance in the protection of legitimate judicial authority,” he said in a statement, hinting that judges could organize more strikes, after the one registered last week.
Meanwhile, the head of the dissolved Supreme Council, Youssef Bouzakher, rejected the new decree and described it as an “unconstitutional action that ends the guarantees of the independence of the judiciary.”
Against this background, thousands of people went out to protest this Sunday against the president. Many waved flags and chanted slogans such as “Freedom! and ‘End the police state'” in support of an independent judiciary.
“What has happened is the culmination of the coup (…) Tunisia has become a nascent dictatorship after being a nascent democracy,” explained Nadia Salem, one of the protesters.
The International Commission of Jurists noted that the recent decree “consolidates power in the hands of the president and effectively ends any semblance of judicial independence” in the country. “Tunisia returns to its darkest days, when judges were transferred and fired at the whim of the Executive,” he noted.
Said rejects the accusations against him and says that he will supposedly defend the rights and freedoms won in the 2011 revolution, which brought democracy. He maintains that he will submit the choice of a new Constitution in a referendum this summer and that he will call for new parliamentary elections in December this year.
With Reuters and AFP
First modification:
The new Superior Council of the Judiciary created by the president of Tunisia, Kaïs Said, issued this February 13 a decree that gives the president the power to fire the country’s judges, block their promotions and prohibit their right to strike. The president consolidates his control after he took executive authority in 2021, an action considered by his opponents as a coup.
The only country where the so-called Arab Spring triumphed is facing a series of blows to democracy.
“End the coup” and “take your hands off the judiciary” are some of the messages shouted by thousands of people protesting in Tunisia against the current president Kaïs Said.
The tiredness of the citizens was unleashed after the president in the last few hours gained greater control over the judiciary. The new Superior Council of the Judiciary ruled this Sunday, February 13, that Said will be able to dismiss judges, block the appointment of magistrates and their promotions, and withdraw their right to strike.
It will also have the authority to propose judicial reforms, effectively giving it exclusive power over the entire justice system.
The decision was issued just after, on February 6, the president dissolved the country’s highest judicial body, which guaranteed judicial independence. And on Saturday, February 12, he appointed a new Council that he assures is provisional, although without a fixed term.
The seizure of judicial power is seen in the country as the last institutional domain that was missing in the hands of the president to consolidate his control.
Paradoxically, Said was a jurist and professor of Constitutional Law before winning the second round of the presidential elections in 2019.
But in August 2021, he suspended Parliament and claimed he could rule by decree.
The president alleged alleged corruption and lack of independence in the judicial system to justify his actions. Said says his actions are necessary to save Tunisia from a “corrupt and selfish elite” who allowed its economy and politics to stagnate for years and brought the state to the brink of collapse.
However, after seizing executive, legislative and judicial authority, his critics accuse him of seeking dictatorial powers and undermining the rule of law.
Fear of wave of dismissals of judges
The president of the Association of Judges of Tunisia, Anas Hamaidi, indicated that he fears that now there could be a wave of dismissals of magistrates in the nation.
“We will advance in the protection of legitimate judicial authority,” he said in a statement, hinting that judges could organize more strikes, after the one registered last week.
Meanwhile, the head of the dissolved Supreme Council, Youssef Bouzakher, rejected the new decree and described it as an “unconstitutional action that ends the guarantees of the independence of the judiciary.”
Against this background, thousands of people went out to protest this Sunday against the president. Many waved flags and chanted slogans such as “Freedom! and ‘End the police state'” in support of an independent judiciary.
“What has happened is the culmination of the coup (…) Tunisia has become a nascent dictatorship after being a nascent democracy,” explained Nadia Salem, one of the protesters.
The International Commission of Jurists noted that the recent decree “consolidates power in the hands of the president and effectively ends any semblance of judicial independence” in the country. “Tunisia returns to its darkest days, when judges were transferred and fired at the whim of the Executive,” he noted.
Said rejects the accusations against him and says that he will supposedly defend the rights and freedoms won in the 2011 revolution, which brought democracy. He maintains that he will submit the choice of a new Constitution in a referendum this summer and that he will call for new parliamentary elections in December this year.
With Reuters and AFP
First modification:
The new Superior Council of the Judiciary created by the president of Tunisia, Kaïs Said, issued this February 13 a decree that gives the president the power to fire the country’s judges, block their promotions and prohibit their right to strike. The president consolidates his control after he took executive authority in 2021, an action considered by his opponents as a coup.
The only country where the so-called Arab Spring triumphed is facing a series of blows to democracy.
“End the coup” and “take your hands off the judiciary” are some of the messages shouted by thousands of people protesting in Tunisia against the current president Kaïs Said.
The tiredness of the citizens was unleashed after the president in the last few hours gained greater control over the judiciary. The new Superior Council of the Judiciary ruled this Sunday, February 13, that Said will be able to dismiss judges, block the appointment of magistrates and their promotions, and withdraw their right to strike.
It will also have the authority to propose judicial reforms, effectively giving it exclusive power over the entire justice system.
The decision was issued just after, on February 6, the president dissolved the country’s highest judicial body, which guaranteed judicial independence. And on Saturday, February 12, he appointed a new Council that he assures is provisional, although without a fixed term.
The seizure of judicial power is seen in the country as the last institutional domain that was missing in the hands of the president to consolidate his control.
Paradoxically, Said was a jurist and professor of Constitutional Law before winning the second round of the presidential elections in 2019.
But in August 2021, he suspended Parliament and claimed he could rule by decree.
The president alleged alleged corruption and lack of independence in the judicial system to justify his actions. Said says his actions are necessary to save Tunisia from a “corrupt and selfish elite” who allowed its economy and politics to stagnate for years and brought the state to the brink of collapse.
However, after seizing executive, legislative and judicial authority, his critics accuse him of seeking dictatorial powers and undermining the rule of law.
Fear of wave of dismissals of judges
The president of the Association of Judges of Tunisia, Anas Hamaidi, indicated that he fears that now there could be a wave of dismissals of magistrates in the nation.
“We will advance in the protection of legitimate judicial authority,” he said in a statement, hinting that judges could organize more strikes, after the one registered last week.
Meanwhile, the head of the dissolved Supreme Council, Youssef Bouzakher, rejected the new decree and described it as an “unconstitutional action that ends the guarantees of the independence of the judiciary.”
Against this background, thousands of people went out to protest this Sunday against the president. Many waved flags and chanted slogans such as “Freedom! and ‘End the police state'” in support of an independent judiciary.
“What has happened is the culmination of the coup (…) Tunisia has become a nascent dictatorship after being a nascent democracy,” explained Nadia Salem, one of the protesters.
The International Commission of Jurists noted that the recent decree “consolidates power in the hands of the president and effectively ends any semblance of judicial independence” in the country. “Tunisia returns to its darkest days, when judges were transferred and fired at the whim of the Executive,” he noted.
Said rejects the accusations against him and says that he will supposedly defend the rights and freedoms won in the 2011 revolution, which brought democracy. He maintains that he will submit the choice of a new Constitution in a referendum this summer and that he will call for new parliamentary elections in December this year.
With Reuters and AFP