Somalia

Start date: 2013 (2005 - 2012 at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law)
Areas of expertise: Public International Law, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Human Rights, Legislative and Constitutional Drafting, Legal Pluralism, Fundamental Principles of Governance, Access to Justice, Procedural Law of Institutions
Highlights: over 8 projects, including 25+ workshops

Overview

The Global Knowledge Transfer Working Group of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (MPIL) had been engaged in the Somali constitutional process since its early stages in 2004. Back then the adoption of the Transitional Federal Charter marked the beginning of a constitutional process aiming to end a decade of statelessness and anarchy haunting Somalia ever since the overthrow of the Siyad Barre regime in 1990/91. Since 2008, MPIL was part of an international consortium supporting the Transitional Federal Government with the drafting of a new constitution. Ever since this process concluded with the adoption of the Provisional Constitution in August 2012, Somalia is in the process of re-establishing functioning and effective government institutions and structures in the country based on the newly adopted Provisional Constitution.

In August 2012 a new Parliament was instituted, which subsequently elected a new President in September 2012. In October 2012 the President nominated a new Prime Minister and the Federal Parliament endorsed the new Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers in November 2012. The new Somali Federal Government acquired international recognition and significant support from international partner and donor countries. Nevertheless, Somalia currently faces tremendous challenges in re-establishing governmental services after more than 20 years of absence of functioning and effective central government institutions. In continuing the work of the MPIL in Somalia, the Foundation has been supporting the new Federal Government and Parliament and their international partners since 2013 on constitutional and legal aspects of the ongoing Somali state-building process.