The Constitution of Eritrea is the supreme law of

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the State and source of legal authority. It sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of government. Despite its ratification by the legislature, the constitution has yet to be implemented as of .

Overview

In March 1994, the Provisional Government of Eritrea established a Constitutional Commission to draft a new constitution. The drafting authority was the transitional

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 repr ...

, a body consisting of 75 members of the EPLF central committee and 75 representatives elected by regional assemblies. In 1995, a global symposium was held in

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...

for the writing of the Constitution of Eritrea. Eritrean representatives worked closely on the legislation with a number of international experts, including Somali scholars Ismail Ali Ismail and Said Sheikh Samatar. The following year, Ismail also helped train senior government officials in the Eritrean capital. After 27 months, the resulting constitution was introduced to the National Assembly in 1997. The constitution was ratified. , it had not been fully implemented, and

general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

had not been held, despite the ratification of an election law in 2002. The Eritrean constitution calls for legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. According to the constitution, a 150-seat unicameral legislature, the

, decides internal and external policy, approves the budget, and elects the president of the country. , the National Assembly had not met since 2002, and legislative and executive powers are effectively held by President

Isaias Afwerki Isaias Afwerki (, ; born 2 February 1946) is an Eritrean politician and leader who has been the List of heads of state of Eritrea, president of Eritrea since 1993 and the chairman of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) since 1994 ...

References

External links

Tigrigna version of The Constitution of Eritrea

English version of The Constitution of Eritrea

English version of The Constitution of Eritrea pdf

English version of The Constitution of Eritrea
Government of Eritrea

Law of Eritrea {{eritrea-stub