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Constitution of Tunisia
The Constitution of Tunisia (Arabic: دستور الجمهورية التونسية Dostūr ej-Jumhūrīye et-Tūnsīye) is the supreme law of the Tunisian Republic. The constitution is the framework for the organization of the Tunisian government and for the relationship of the federal government with the governorates, citizens, and all people within Tunisia. Tunisia's first modern constitution was the Fundamental Pact of 1857. This was followed by the Constitution of 1861, which was not replaced until after the departure of French administrators in 1956, by the constitution of 1959. It was adopted on 1 June 1959 and amended in 1999 and 2002, after the Tunisian constitutional referendum of 2002.
Following the revolution and months of protests, a Constituent Assembly was elected to draft a new constitution, the Tunisian Constitution of 2014 which was adopted on 26 January 2014.
In September 2021, President Kaïs Saïed announced an upcoming reform of the 2014 Constitution. A constitutional referendum was scheduled for July 2022. The opposition called for a boycott, and the referendum saw 95% vote in favor on 30% turnout.
The territory of modern-day Tunisia knew its first form of political organization with the constitution of ancient Carthage. Its text was extensively referred to by Aristotle in his work, Politics. In this, Aristotle speaks highly of the Carthaginian constitution and describes it as a model of a balanced constitution, having the best characteristics of other political regimes; It combines elements of monarchic (kings or shophets), aristocratic (senate) and democratic (people's assembly) regimes.
Beginning in 1839, the Ottoman Empire introduced a number of reforms in government starting with the Hatt-ı Şerif of the Gülhane, but these were not applied in Tunisia due to the independence of the Husainid Dynasty and the conservatism of the ruling Bey, Ahmad I ibn Mustafa. It was the death of Ahmad I and the Batto Sfez Affair and its aftermath that allowed France and England to pressure the Bey into granting reforms.
Samuel "Batto" Sfez was a Jewish teamster who worked for Jewish political boss Nasim Shamama. Following a traffic accident, Sfez was involved in an altercation with a Muslim. His opponent subsequently brought charges against Sfez, charging him with insulting Islam, a capital offense under Maliki law. There were plenty of witnesses who had heard Sfez curse his opponent and his religion. A notary investigated and took sworn statements. The court considered the matter for some time, while Shamama tried to muster support from the British and French legations. However, Nasim Shamama had previously upset the Bey, Muhammad II ibn al-Husayn, by forcing him to deal with a case of a Muslim who had murdered a Jew, where the unpopular conclusion was the execution of the Muslim. As a result, Muhammad II issued the execution order the same day that the court came down with its decision of guilty, and Sfez was summarily beheaded.
This upset not only the local Jewish community but also the local European businessmen and hence the legates from France, Leon Roches, and Britain, Richard Wood, who had already been pressuring the Bey for greater religious tolerance and equal treatment before the law, primarily in support of European commercial interests. European warships steamed into Tunisian harbors including an entire French squadron into the port of Tunis (Halq al-Wadi). Under this pressure and given the support of the liberal former general and Marine Minister Hayreddin Pasha, Muhammad II agreed to what became known as the Fundamental Pact of 1857. That document, which had many similarities to the 1839 Ottoman Hatt-ı Şerif, abolished slavery, guaranteed people to be secure in their lives and property, granted equality of taxation (thus implicitly abolishing the jizya), granted religious freedom, granted equality before the law, granted foreigner the right to own land and participate in all types of businesses and set up separate commercial courts, among other things.
Although adopted under foreign pressure, to open the country to international trade, these ideas of equality from the Age of Enlightenment found fertile ground in the Tunisian reform movement, contributed to the ideas advocated by Mahmud Qabadu and Ahmad ibn Abi Diyaf and gained the support of Hayreddin Pasha and his followers, especially generals Rustum and Hussein, despite concerns about the broadening wedge of European commerce. These ideas later inspired the national movement in its claims against the French protectorate, especially within the Constitutional Party (Destour Party).
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Constitution of Tunisia
The Constitution of Tunisia (Arabic: دستور الجمهورية التونسية Dostūr ej-Jumhūrīye et-Tūnsīye) is the supreme law of the Tunisian Republic. The constitution is the framework for the organization of the Tunisian government and for the relationship of the federal government with the governorates, citizens, and all people within Tunisia. Tunisia's first modern constitution was the Fundamental Pact of 1857. This was followed by the Constitution of 1861, which was not replaced until after the departure of French administrators in 1956, by the constitution of 1959. It was adopted on 1 June 1959 and amended in 1999 and 2002, after the Tunisian constitutional referendum of 2002.
Following the revolution and months of protests, a Constituent Assembly was elected to draft a new constitution, the Tunisian Constitution of 2014 which was adopted on 26 January 2014.
In September 2021, President Kaïs Saïed announced an upcoming reform of the 2014 Constitution. A constitutional referendum was scheduled for July 2022. The opposition called for a boycott, and the referendum saw 95% vote in favor on 30% turnout.
The territory of modern-day Tunisia knew its first form of political organization with the constitution of ancient Carthage. Its text was extensively referred to by Aristotle in his work, Politics. In this, Aristotle speaks highly of the Carthaginian constitution and describes it as a model of a balanced constitution, having the best characteristics of other political regimes; It combines elements of monarchic (kings or shophets), aristocratic (senate) and democratic (people's assembly) regimes.
Beginning in 1839, the Ottoman Empire introduced a number of reforms in government starting with the Hatt-ı Şerif of the Gülhane, but these were not applied in Tunisia due to the independence of the Husainid Dynasty and the conservatism of the ruling Bey, Ahmad I ibn Mustafa. It was the death of Ahmad I and the Batto Sfez Affair and its aftermath that allowed France and England to pressure the Bey into granting reforms.
Samuel "Batto" Sfez was a Jewish teamster who worked for Jewish political boss Nasim Shamama. Following a traffic accident, Sfez was involved in an altercation with a Muslim. His opponent subsequently brought charges against Sfez, charging him with insulting Islam, a capital offense under Maliki law. There were plenty of witnesses who had heard Sfez curse his opponent and his religion. A notary investigated and took sworn statements. The court considered the matter for some time, while Shamama tried to muster support from the British and French legations. However, Nasim Shamama had previously upset the Bey, Muhammad II ibn al-Husayn, by forcing him to deal with a case of a Muslim who had murdered a Jew, where the unpopular conclusion was the execution of the Muslim. As a result, Muhammad II issued the execution order the same day that the court came down with its decision of guilty, and Sfez was summarily beheaded.
This upset not only the local Jewish community but also the local European businessmen and hence the legates from France, Leon Roches, and Britain, Richard Wood, who had already been pressuring the Bey for greater religious tolerance and equal treatment before the law, primarily in support of European commercial interests. European warships steamed into Tunisian harbors including an entire French squadron into the port of Tunis (Halq al-Wadi). Under this pressure and given the support of the liberal former general and Marine Minister Hayreddin Pasha, Muhammad II agreed to what became known as the Fundamental Pact of 1857. That document, which had many similarities to the 1839 Ottoman Hatt-ı Şerif, abolished slavery, guaranteed people to be secure in their lives and property, granted equality of taxation (thus implicitly abolishing the jizya), granted religious freedom, granted equality before the law, granted foreigner the right to own land and participate in all types of businesses and set up separate commercial courts, among other things.
Although adopted under foreign pressure, to open the country to international trade, these ideas of equality from the Age of Enlightenment found fertile ground in the Tunisian reform movement, contributed to the ideas advocated by Mahmud Qabadu and Ahmad ibn Abi Diyaf and gained the support of Hayreddin Pasha and his followers, especially generals Rustum and Hussein, despite concerns about the broadening wedge of European commerce. These ideas later inspired the national movement in its claims against the French protectorate, especially within the Constitutional Party (Destour Party).