The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria achieved its independence in 1962, after more than a century of French rule, and is a semi-presidential republic, whose legal system is a mixture of French civil law and Islamic law. The government is divided into the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches. The President, elected by direct and popular vote every five years, serves as both the Chief Executive and the Commander in Chief. The President appoints the Prime Minister, who serves as the head of the Government. The previous constitution was enacted in 1963 and has been amended on a number of occasions. In May 2014, following President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s re-election, the Government released a constitutional reform package.
Algeria’s current Constitution was adopted in 2020 and provides for a preamble that considers climate change. The judicial power of Algeria is divided into independent courts. At the top of the judicial hierarchy are the Constitutional Court — which ensures the Constitution’s observance — and the Supreme Court. Article 201 establishes that the Constitutional Court can hear cases referred to by the President of the Republic, the President of the Council of the Nation, the President of the People’s National Assembly, the Head of the Government, forty deputies or twenty-five members of the Council of the Nation. The Court may issue opinions regarding the constitutional observance of laws, treaties, decrees and regulations, as well as when constitutional powers conflict. The Supreme Court, on the other hand, ensures the standardisation of jurisprudence across the country and shall oversee the adherence to the law and, when one of the parties in a trial claims before its jurisdiction that the legislative or regulatory provision upon which the issue of litigation relies may adversely affect the rights and freedoms granted by the Constitution, it may refer the case to the Constitutional Court.
The legislative authority is held and exercised by a bicameral Parliament composed of the Council of the Nation (the upper house or Senate) and the National People’s Assembly (the lower house). One third of the members in the Council of the Nation are appointed by the President, and the remaining two-thirds are elected by indirect vote of the elected members of communal assemblies and wilayas (provinces). Members serve for six-year terms, and half of the Council is renewed every three years. Laws are first put forth by the National People’s Assembly and must be adopted by both houses; although the Council of the Nation has the absolute power to block the Legislative process, it neither has the authority to initiate legislation nor amend it. Prior to adoption, a bill is first successively debated in the National People’s Assembly, then the Council of the Nation. Bills are adopted by a majority of three-quarters of the members. In the event of a disagreement among the houses, a joint committee is created, composed of members of both houses, to propose a revised text, which is then subject to the approval of both houses and is not amendable.
When the National People’s Assembly is in recess, the President can legislate by ordinance; however, the President must present the text of the order/decree to both houses during the next session for approval. Ordinances not approved by both houses are considered obsolete. Presidential decrees do not have to be approved by both houses during a presidentially declared ‘state of emergency’. Algeria operated under a ‘state of emergency’ for 19 years, until it was officially lifted in February 2011.