Key challenges facing constitution makers in Tunisia and Yemen unpacked

The speakers at this seminar were Prof Xavier Philippe and Prof Prof Steytler. Prof Philippe is the director of the Louis Favoreu Institute of Public Law and Comparative International and European Law at the University of Aix-Marseille, France. He is also an extraordinary professor at UWC and he has been a legal adviser to the Tunisian National Constitutional Assembly, advising on the Bill of Rights. Prof Steytler is the South African Research Chair in Multilevel Government, Law and Policy at the Community Law Centre, UWC, and was a United Nations consultant to the Yemeni Constitutional Drafting Committee in 2014.

According to Prof Phillipe, since the Arab spring started four years ago in Tunisia, a number of Arab countries have been grappling with constitution making to construct new governance systems. He said the key challenges faced by constitution drafters have been constitutionalism, limited government and the nature of the state. “In Tunisia the new Constitution established constitutional supremacy and entrenched a bill of rights. The constitution is holding and the issue is now the implementation of the Bill of Rights,” he pointed out.

In Yemen, the Constitution Drafting Committee completed in January 2015 a draft constitution also entrenching constitutional supremacy and limited government as well as establishing a federal form of government to keep the country together, said Prof Steytler. He pointed that before the constitution could be adopted, the government was ousted by northern rebels, the Houthis, and the country is now in the grip of a civil war, with a number of international players directly involved in the conflict.

The two Professors opened up a discussion to see why Tunisia is succeeding in establishing a constitutional democracy, and Yemen failing by looking at the key challenges that face constitution makers in these two countries and reflecting on the prospects of success.