After the recent signing of the Interim Constitution for Iraq and the various attendant commentary, I became interested in how it compared to the other national constitutions in the area. This post will be the first of several discussing these national constitutions. I have concentrated my attention on the constitutions of the Arab world and within those constitutions I have put most of my attention on general structure and the issue of rights. I have not paid a great deal of attention to procedural details e.g. succession, the legislative process, etc.
My source for most of these constitutions is the International Constutional Law Site. I would very much appreciate any comments or corrections.
First, a few notes on the data. When I indicate “limits” or “limited”, I am generally referring to what seems to be a stock formulation e.g. the provisions from the Kuwaiti Constitution (1962) on property rights:
Article 16 [Property Rights]
Property, capital, and work are fundamental constituents of the social structure of the State and of the national wealth. All of them are individual rights with a social function as regulated by law.
The provision “as regulated by law” is a common formulation in declaration of rights in these constitutions. To my eye this would seem to negate the right or, at least, diminish the value of the clause.
Second, these constitutions are, generally, more socialistic than the U. S. constitution. Education, health care, and old age social security are typically guaranteed by the state. Where noted “compulsory” refers to primary education, only.
So, here’s the data:
Algeria | Egypt | Iraq | Jordan | Kuwait | Libya | Morocco | Oman | Qatar | Saudi Arabia | Sudan | Syria | Tunisia | Yemen | |
Year | 1976 | 1980 | 2004 | 1952 | 1962 | 1969 | 1992 | 1996 | 2003 | 1992 | 1998 | 1973 | 1959 | 1994 |
| Rule of law | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Gender neutrality | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Guarantee of rights for women | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes (Shari’ah) | ||
| Form of government | People’s Democratic Republic | democratic socialist | democratic republic | Parliamentary; hereditary monarchy | hereditary amirate | democratic republic; socialist | constitutional monarchy | hereditary sultanate | hereditary emirate | kingdom | democratic republic; federal | democratic republic | republic | democratic republic |
| State religion | Islam | Islam | Islam | Islam | Islam | Islam | Islam | Islam | Islam | Islam | Islam | “Islamic jurisprudence is the main source of legislation” | Islam | Islam |
| Freedom of religion | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (limited) | Yes (limits) | Yes (limits) | No | Yes (limits) | Yes (limits) | No | Yes (limits) | Yes | No | No |
| Ethnicity | multi-ethnic | |||||||||||||
| Arab nation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not exactly | Yes | Not exactly | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Languages | Arabic | Arabic | Arabic and Kurdish | Arabic | Arabic | Arabic | Arabic | Arabic | Arabic | Arabic | Arabic; other permitted | Arabic | Arabic | Arabic |
| Special language | guarantee of linguistic rights for ethnic minorities | guarantee of linguistic rights for minorities | ||||||||||||
| Right to life | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes (limits) | No | No | No | |
| Right to liberty | No | Yes (limits) | Yes | Yes (limited) | Yes | No | No | Yes (limits) | Yes (limits) | No | Yes (limits) | Yes | No | Yes (limits) |
Right to security of his person | No | Yes (limits) | Yes | No | Yes (limits) | No | No | No | No | Yes (limits) | Yes (limits) | Yes (limited) | Yes (limited) | Yes (limits) |
| Right of free expression | No | Yes (limits) | Yes | Yes (limited) | Yes (limits) | No | Yes | Yes (limits) | Yes (limits) | No | Yes (limits) | Yes (limited) | Yes (limited) | No |
| Right of assembly and association | Yes | Yes (limits) | Yes | Yes (limited) | Yes (limits) | No | Yes | Yes (limits) | Yes (limits) | No | Yes (limits) | Yes (limited) | No | No |
Slavery prohibited | No | Not exactly | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | |
Compulsory military service | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | ||
Right to privacy | Yes | Yes (limits) | Yes | Yes (limited) | Yes (limits) | No | Yes | Yes (limits) | No | Yes (limits) | No | Yes (limited) | Yes (limited) | No |
Right to education | Yes (compulsory) | Yes | Yes | Yes (compulsory) | Yes (compulsory) | Yes (compulsory) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes (compulsory) | No | Yes (compulsory) |
Right to health care | Yes (limited) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes (old age) | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
Right to social security | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes (limits) | No | Yes | No | Yes (part) | |
No ex post facto | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
No warrantless searches | Yes | No | Yes | Yes (limited) | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes (limited) | No | No | |
Right to public trial | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
Presumption of innocence | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Right to fair and speedy trial | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | |
Double jeopardy | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
No torture | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Right to property | Yes | Yes (limits) | Yes (limits) | No | Yes (limits) | Yes (limits) | Yes | Yes (limits) | Yes (limits) | Yes (limits) | Yes (limits) | Yes (limited) | No | Yes (limits) |
Asylum | Yes (limited) | Yes (limits) | Yes | Yes | Yes (limits) | Yes (limits) | No | Yes (limits) | Yes (limits) | No | No | No | Yes (limited) | No |
Separation of powers | No | Not exactly | Yes | Yes (limited) | No | No | No | Yes (limits) | Not exactly | No | No | Not really | Yes (limited) | Yes |
Natural resources | belong to the “national collectivity” | belong to the people | belong to the people | belong to the state | belong to the state | belong to the state | belong to the state | |||||||
Outlaw private militias | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ||||
Structure | People’s National Assembly; Council of the Nation; Head of Government; President; Judiciary | People’s Assembly; President | National assembly; president; presidential council; council of ministers;prime minister; supreme court | Senate; Chamber of ministers; monarch; judiciary | Amir | Revolutionary Command Council; Council of Ministers; Prime Minister; President; Judiciary | Chamber of Representatives; Council of Ministers; Prime Minister; King; Judiciary | Council of Ministers; Prime Minister; Sultan; Judiciary | Council of Ministers; Prime Minister; Emir; Judiciary | Consultative Council; Council of Ministers; king | National Assembly; Council of Ministers; President; Judiciary | People’s Assembly; president; judiciary | National Parliament; Council of Ministers; Prime Minister; President; Judiciary | House of Representatives;Council of Ministers;Prime Minister; President; Judiciary |
Source of power | the people | the people | the nation | the people | the people | Koran and the Sunnah | the people | the people | the people | |||||
Other | unique prohibitions on nepotism and feudal arrangements. I presume this has some historical basis. | this is a very flowery document; basically a Soviet-type government | Semi-autonomy for Kurdish regions | originally intended as temporary | reads more like a travel brochure | A rather extraordinary preamble | ||||||||
