The Constitutional Council () is a judicial body in the
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
Constitutional Council of France
The Constitutional Council (french: Conseil constitutionnel; ) is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958 to ensure that constitutional principles and rules ...
. The Council was created by law in 1994 and began its operations in 1995. The seat of the Council is in
Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...
.
Jurisdiction and powers
The Constitutional Council exercises the following powers:
#determining the eligibility of candidates to run in presidential or
legislative
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...
elections;
#certification and announcement of final election results;
#conducting referendums;
#determining the constitutionality of legislation and treaties.
Proposed legislation and treaties may be submitted by the government to the Council for a determination of constitutionality prior to the enactment of the law. They may also be submitted for scrutiny after they have been enacted.
If the constitutionality of a law is challenged in a judicial proceeding, the court may make a ruling on the issue and appeals on constitutionality issues are heard by the Constitutional Council. If a legal provision is declared to be unconstitutional, it cannot be enforced or applied.
No decision of the Constitutional Council may be appealed to any body. The Council is therefore the supreme court for matters within its jurisdiction.
Composition
The Constitutional Council may be composed of a President, two Vice-Presidents, former Presidents of Ivory Coast, and six councillors, or advisers. Decisions are made by majority vote. The President and Vice-Presidents serve six-year non-renewable terms and are appointed by the President of Ivory Coast. The six advisors are also appointed by the President of Ivory Coast to six-year non-renewable terms; three of the advisors are nominated by the President of Ivory Coast, and three are nominated by the President of the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
.
Former Presidents of Ivory Coast are entitled to lifetime membership on the Council. However, no former president has yet become a member of the Council.
Members of the Constitutional Council hold the rank of minister of the government. The President of the Constitutional Council administers the oath of office to the newly elected President of Ivory Coast.
A decision of the Constitutional Council played a role in the
2010–11 Ivorian crisis
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
Laurent Gbagbo
Koudou Laurent Gbagbo , FPI website . ( Alassane Ouattara. On 2 December 2010, the Independent Electoral Commission released provisional results showing that Ouattara had won the election in the second round with 54 percent of the vote. However, the Constitutional Council refused to certify these results, and on 3 December, it declared that Gbangbo was the winner after taking just over 51 percent of the vote. The Council's decision was based on its refusal to certify the results from seven
regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
in the north of the country, where it identified irregularities. Supporters of Ouattara argued that this was a pretext created by Paul Yao N'Dré, the President of the Council and a Gbangbo loyalist.
As a result, both Gbagbo and Ouattara claimed victory and took the presidential oath of office. The ensuing events led
Second Ivorian Civil War
The Second Ivorian Civil War broke out in March 2011 when the crisis in Ivory Coast escalated into full-scale military conflict between forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Ivory Coast since 2000, and supporters of the internationa ...
, which resulted in the overthrow and arrest of Gbangbo and the installation of Ouattara as President in 2011. Ouattara's right to become president was affirmed by the Council after Ouattara and N'Dré met for negotiations.
After Ouattara became president, Francis Wodié was appointed to replace N'Dré as president of the Council.