Since the 2017 amendment of the Constitution, justice-seekers in Mauritania have the legal right to access the Constitutional Council of Mauritania through “an indirect access procedure”. Article 86 of the Mauritanian Constitution thus empowers the constitutional judges to conduct an abstract or a posteriori constitutional review, which allows the Council to consider a claim of unconstitutionality raised during a trial when one of the parties argues that the law on which the outcome of the dispute depends infringes on the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

While the procedure was further regulated in 2018, it is in practice rather challenging in practice for citizens to access constitutional justice in Mauritania. The Max Planck Foundation is to provide technical legal support to the Constitutional Council and justice-seekers to achieve the specific objective of strengthening constitutional justice in the country. The top-down and bottom-up approach of the project seek to address two converging trends. First, capacity-building for the Constitutional Council of Mauritania will sustain its efforts in the development of a line of jurisprudence that is more protective of fundamental rights and freedoms and that fulfils the Council’s constitutional mandate as the arbiter of general elections. Second, raising awareness among civil society on fundamental rights and freedoms as well as access to justice will contribute to strengthening the rule of law in Mauritania. To achieve these objectives, the project focuses, inter alia, on women’s rights in order to improve women’s access to justice, and therefore, their participation and inclusion in a democratic Mauritanian society.

The project also targets a wider audience in Africa and beyond through the publication and dissemination of an analysis of a selection of landmark cases on women’s rights in Africa from both international and African regional bodies as well as African constitutional courts.

15 August 2024 – 14 August 2026

Kathrin Maria Scherr

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Phone: +49 (0)6221 91404 34
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