{ Adopted: 15 March 1992 / Status: 15 March 1992 }
Preamble
Unity, Work, Progress, Justice, Dignity
The coup d'etat has inscribed itself in the political history of the
Congo as the only means to accede to power and to annihilate
the hopes of a truly democratic life.
Consequently, We, the Congolese People
- create a new political order, a decentralized State where
morality, law, liberty, pluralist democracy, equality, social
justice, fraternity, and the general well-being rein;
- preserve the sacred character of the human person;
- assure to the individual and the family the conditions necessary
for their harmonious development;
- guarantee the participation of everyone in the life of the Nation;
- preserve our unity within cultural diversity;
- promote a rational exploitation of our riches and our natural
resources;
- dispose of ourselves freely and to reaffirm our independence;
- cooperate with all peoples who share our ideals of peace, liberty,
justice, human solidarity, on the basis of principles of equality,
reciprocal interest and mutual respect, sovereignty, and territorial
integrity;
- contribute to world peace as a member of the United Nations
Organization (UN) and the Organization for African
Unity (OAU); and
- to strive for the creation of large sub-regional economic
groupings;
order and establish for the Congo the present Constitution which enunciates the fundamental principles of the Republic, defines the rights and duties of individuals, fixes the form of Government according to the principle of separation of powers;
declare as an integral part of the present Constitution the principles proclaimed and guaranteed by the 1945 Charter of the United Nations, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1981 African Charter of the Rights of Man and Peoples and all duly ratified pertinent international texts, relative to the Right of Man, the Charter of National Unity, and the Charter of the Rights and Liberties adopted by the Sovereign National Conference on 29 May 1991; and
proclaim:
- the duty of the State to assure the diffusion and the instruction
of the Constitution, of the 1945 Charter of the United Nations,
of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of the
1981 African Charter of the Rights of Man and Peoples, of the
Charter of National Unity and the Charter of the Rights and
Liberties adopted by the Sovereign National Conference on 29
May 1991, the right of any citizen to seat the Constitutional
Counsel for the purpose of annulment of any law or any act
contrary to the present Constitution;
- the obligation of all the organs of the State to apply the
dispositions of the present Constitution and make them
respected;
- the right and obligation of every citizen to resist by civil
disobedience
Article 1 [State Form]
The Republic of the Congo is a sovereign and independent
State, decentralized, indivisible, secular, democratic, and social.
Article 2 [Flag]
(1) The National emblem is the tri-colored flag, green yellow,
red. Of a rectangular form, it is composed of two triangles of
the color green and red, separated by a diagonal yellow band,
the green being on the side of the flagstaff.
(2) The law shall prescribe the dimensions, the tones of the
colors, and the other details of the flag.
Article 3 [Anthem, Motto, Seal, Coat of Arms, Language, Capital]
(1) The national anthem is "La Congolaise".
(2) The Motto
(3) The Seal of the State and Coat of Arms
(4) The official language is French.
(5) The functional national languages are Lingala and
Munukutuba.
(6) The Capital of the Republic of the Congo is Brazzaville.
Article 4 [Sovereignty, Democracy, Principle]
(1) National Sovereignty shall belong to the people who
exercise it by way of referendum and by representatives elected
by universal suffrage.
(2) No individual nor faction of the people shall attribute to
itself its exercise.
(3) The principle of the Republic is: Government of the people,
by the people, and for the people.
Article 5 [Suffrage, Electoral Rights]
Suffrage
Article 6 [Political Participation]
Every citizen shall have the right to take part in the direction of
the public affairs of the country either directly, or by the
intermediation of their representatives.
Article 7 [Political Parties]
Political Associations, Parties, and Groupings concur in the
expression of suffrage. They shall freely form and exercise
their activities in respect of the law and the principles of
national sovereignty, integrity of territory, National Unity, and
pluralist democracy.
Article 8 [Unconstitutional Parties and Activities]
(1) Political Associations, Parties, and Groupings of which the
goals aim to touch or overthrow the democratic constitutional
order or compromise the existence of the Republic of the Congo
shall be unconstitutional. They shall incur the sanctions
provided for by the law.
(2) Any propaganda or any act aiming to touch the internal
security of the State, the national unity, and the territorial integrity
shall be unconstitutional and punished by the laws and regulations
in effect.
Article 9 [Natural Resources]
The State shall exercise its total and permanent sovereignty over
all its riches and natural resources including the possession and
the right to use and dispose of them. At all times, it shall
guarantee the freedom of private initiative in these domains.
Article 10 [Right to Life, General Liberty]
(1) The human person is sacred and has the right to life.
(2) The State shall have the absolute obligation to respect and
protect him. Every citizen shall have the right to the free
development
Article 11 [Equality, Gender Equality, Liability]
(1) The State shall assure the equality
(2) The State shall have the duty to strive for the elimination of
any form of discrimination with regard to women and to assure
the protection of their rights in all domains of private and
public life such as stipulated in the international Declarations
and Conventions ratified by the Congo.
(3) Any act which accords privileges to nationals or limits their
rights by reason of the considerations targeted in Paragraph (1)
shall be punished by the penalties provided for by law.
Article 12 [Personal Liberty, Presumption of Innocence]
The liberty of the human person is inviolable. One shall be
accused, arrested, or detained only in the cases determined by
law and according to the forms which it prescribes. Every
accused shall be presumed innocent until his guilt shall be
established at the end of a procedure offering him the guaranties
of a defense.
Article 13 [Detention]
No one shall be incarcerated except in the cases provided by
law.
Article 14 [No Exceptional Jurisdiction]
Under reserve of the provisions provided by the present
Constitution and for a scrupulous respect for the human person,
every exceptional use of judicial power shall be banished.
Article 15 [Nulla Poena Sine Lege]
The law shall only establish penalties strictly and evidently
necessary, and one shall only be punished in virtue of a law
established and promulgated anterior to the infraction and
equally applied.
Article 16 [No Torture, Liability]
Any act of torture, any cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment
shall be prohibited. Anyone found guilty of the acts enunciated
in the present article, shall be punished according to the law.
Article 17 [Right to Resistance]
Any citizen may oppose the execution of an order received
when it touches the rights and liberties contained in the present
Constitution.
Article 18 [Petition, Appeal]
Each citizen shall have the right to introduce a written demand
to the appropriate organ of the State.
Article 19 [Recourse to the Courts]
Any citizen subjected to a prejudice by an act of the
administration shall have the right to judicial recourse.
Article 20 [Recognition of Juridical Personality]
Each citizen shall have the right in any place to the recognition
of his juridical personality.
Article 21 [Citizenship]
Every Congolese shall have the right to Congolese citizenship.
Neither it nor his right to change nationality shall be arbitrarily
taken from him.
Article 22 [Movement]
(1) Every citizen shall possess the right to freely circulate on
the national territory.
(2) He shall only be hindered by road blocks in conditions
determined by law.
(3) Every citizen shall have the right to freely choose his place
of residence. He shall have the right to freely leave the
national territory, if he is not the object of judicial proceedings,
and to return thereto.
Article 23 [Searches]
Searches, in all forms, shall be authorized only in conditions
determined by law.
Article 24 [Home]
The home is inviolable. Searches shall only be ordered in the
forms and conditions prescribed by law.
Article 25 [Association, Political Parties]
Each citizen shall have the right to create a party, syndicate,
associations, or to adhere to them.
Article 26 [Religion, Civic Duties]
(1) Freedom of belief
(2) The free exercise of religious sects shall be guaranteed
within the limits compatible with public order and good mores.
(3) No one shall be relieved from fulfilling a civic duty because
of religious opinion.
Article 27 [Expression, Media, Information]
(1) Every citizen shall have the right to freely express
(2) Freedom of the press and freedom of information shall be
guaranteed.
(3) Censure shall be prohibited.
(4) Access to sources of information shall be free.
(5) Every citizen shall have the right to information and
communication. Activities relative to these domains shall be
exercised in total independence in respect of the law.
Article 28 [Secrecy of Communication]
Secrecy of letters, correspondence, telecommunications, or any
other form of communication shall not be violated except in the
case prescribed by law.
Article 29 [Assembly]
(1) All citizens shall have the right to peacefully assemble,
without previous authorization or declaration.
(2) Peaceful assemblies and manifestations in the public shall be
regulated.
(3) Freedom to have a parade shall be guaranteed.
(4) The law shall determine the conditions of its use.
Article 30 [Property]
(1) Property
(2) In case of contestation, the proprietor shall be responsible
for seating the competent tribunals.
Article 31 [Work, Labor Equality, No Forced Labor, No Slavery]
(1) Work is a sacred right and duty
(2) Any discrimination based on race, sex, physical state,
regional and ethnic origin, ideology, religion, or philosophy
shall be prohibited.
(3) Except for the agents of the Public Force, Congolese
citizens shall possess the freedom to unionize and to strike. No
one shall be submitted to forced labor, except in the case of a
liberty-depriving sentence pronounced by a tribunal. No one
shall be reduced to slavery.
Article 32 [Enterprise]
Every person shall have the right to enterprise in the economic
sectors of his choice in respect of the laws and regulations.
Article 33 [Rest, Leisure, Paid Vacation, Holidays]
Every person shall have the right to rest and leisure notably to a
legal limitation to the duration of work and periodic paid
vacations as well as remuneration for holidays.
Article 34 [Health, Aged, Handicapped]
(1) The State is the guarantor of public health. Every citizen
shall have the right to a level of life sufficient to assure his
health, his well-being and that of his family, notably food,
clothing, shelter, medical care as well as necessary social
services.
(2) The right to create private socio-sanitation establishments
shall be guaranteed. Socio-sanitation establishments shall be
submitted to the approval of the state and regulated by law.
(3) Aged or handicapped persons shall have the right to specific
measures of protection coinciding with their physical and moral
needs.
Article 35 [Culture]
(1) Citizens shall possess a right to culture and to the respect of
their cultural identity. All the communities composing the
Congolese Nation shall possess the freedom to use their
languages and their own culture without prejudicing those of
others.
(2) The State shall have the duty to safeguard and promote the
national values of civilization, such spiritual materials as well as
cultural traditions.
Article 36 [Intellectual Freedom and Property]
The freedom of intellectual, artistic, scientific, and
technological creation shall be guaranteed to each citizen.
Intellectual property shall be protected by law. The
sequestration, seizure, confiscation, interdiction, and destruction
of all or part of any publication, entry, or any other manner of
information and communication shall only be performed in
virtue of a judicial decision.
Article 37 [Education]
(1) Every person shall have the right to education. All
instruction shall be placed under the surveillance and control of
the State. The State shall strive for equal access to education
and professional instruction.
(2) Public instruction shall be free. Fundamental instruction
shall be obligatory.
(3) Scholarship shall be obligatory until the age of sixteen
years.
(4) The right to create private schools shall be guaranteed.
Private school shall be submitted to the approval of the State
and regulated by law.
Article 38 [Family]
(1) The State shall have the obligation to assist the family in its
mission as guardian of the morality and traditional values
recognized by the community.
(2) The State shall have the duty to assure the protection of the
Rights of the mother and infant as stipulated in the International
Declarations and Conventions.
Article 39 [Marriage]
(1) Marriage and the family shall be under the protection of the
State. The law shall fix the juridical conditions of marriage and
the family.
(2) Legal marriage shall only be contracted before the organs of
the State. It shall only be concluded with the free and clear
consent of the future spouses.
Article 40 [Children, Parents, Child Equality]
(1) Parents shall have rights and responsibilities
(2) Children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall have the
same rights
Article 41 [Child Education, Child Support]
(1) Children shall only be separated from their family, which
shall be responsible for their education, in virtue of the law.
(2) The mother and the child shall have the right to aid and
assistance of the State.
Article 42 [Child Protection, Child Nationality]
(1) Every child, without a single discrimination based on race,
color, sex, language, religion, national, social or ethnic origin,
fortune or birth, shall have the right, on the part of his family,
society, and the State to measures of protection which stem
from his condition as a minor.
(2) Every child shall be declared to the Civil State after his
birth within a time period fixed by law and have a name.
(3) Every child shall have the right to acquire a nationality.
Article 43 [No Child Exploitation or Labor]
(1) The State shall protect all children and adolescents from
economic and social exploitation.
(2) Child labor of those under 16 years shall be prohibited.
Article 44 [Youth Employment]
The act of employing those under 18 years of age in those
occupations of a nature compromising their morality or their
health putting their lives in danger or hindering their normal
development shall be sanctioned by law.
Article 45 [Parental Liabilities]
The law shall sanction insufficiencies of parents in the matter of
education and the protection of their children.
Article 46 [Environment]
Each citizen shall have the right to a healthy, satisfactory, and
enduring environment and the duty to defend it. The State shall
strive for the protection and the conservation of the
environment.
Article 47 [Waste Management, Pollution Compensation]
(1) Storing, manipulating, incinerating, and discharging toxic,
polluting or radio-active wastes originating in factories and
other industrial or artisan units installed on the national territory
shall be regulated by law.
(2) All pollution resulting from an economic activity shall give
compensation for the benefit of the populations of the exploited
zones.
(3) The law shall determine the nature of compensatory
measures and the forms of their execution.
Article 48 [Polluting Liabilities]
(1) The transport, importation, storage, concealment, dumping,
in the continental waters and maritime space under the national
jurisdiction and including the exclusive economic zone, and
dispersal in the airspace, of toxic, polluting, or radioactive
wastes or any other dangerous product of a foreign origin shall
constitute a crime punishable by law.
(2) Any accord relative to these domains shall be prohibited.
Article 49 [War Crimes]
War crimes, political crimes, crimes against humanity, and
genocide shall be imprescriptible.
Article 50 [Minority Rights]
The State shall guarantee the rights of minorities.
Article 51 [Asylum, Immigration]
(1) The State shall accord the right of asylum on his territory to
foreign exiles persecuted by reason of their action in favor of
democracy, the fight for national liberation, or the fight against
racism and apartheid, the freedom of scientific and cultural work,
and for the defense of Human Rights and the Rights of Peoples
conforming to laws and regulations in force.
(2) Immigration shall be submitted to the law.
Article 52 [Rights of Foreigners]
Foreigners
Article 53 [Right to Peace]
The Congolese people shall have the right to peace.
Article 54 [Right to Resources]
The Congolese People shall have the inalienable imprescriptible
right to possess their riches and natural resources.
Article 55 [Right to Development]
The Congolese People shall have the right to economic,
cultural, and social development.
Article 56 [General Provisions]
(1) Every individual shall have duties toward the family and the
society, toward the State and other legally recognized units, and
toward the international community.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and in the possession of his
liberties, every individual shall only be submitted to limitations
established by law with a view to assure the recognition and the
respect of the Rights and Liberties of others and the goal of
satisfying just exigencies of moral, public order, and the
general well-being in a democratic society.
Article 57 [Tolerance]
Every individual shall have the duty to respect and consider his
equals without any discrimination, and to maintain with them
relations which permit promotion, safeguard, and reinforcement
of respect and reciprocal tolerance.
Article 58 [Family, National Solidarity]
Every individual shall have the duty:
- to preserve harmonious development of the family and to
work in favor of its cohesion and its respect, to respect at all
times his parents, to nourish and to assist them in case of
necessity; and
- to preserve, at all times, the social and national solidarity and
reinforce it particularly when it is menaced.
Article 59 [National Security]
(1) Every individual shall have the duty to preserve the peace
and reinforce the national independence and territorial integrity
of the Fatherland and in a general manner, to contribute to the
defense of the country, under conditions fixed by law.
(2) Treason, espionage for the profit of a foreign power, aiding
the enemy in time of war, as well as all threats to the security
of the State shall be reprimanded in conformity with the laws of
the Republic.
Article 60 [Taxation, Duty to Work]
Every individual shall be expected to work
Article 61 [Property]
Every citizen shall have the duty, by his work and his conduct,
to respect private property, to protect public property, and the
interests of the national unit.
Article 62 [Public Good]
(1) The public good is sacred and inviolable. All citizens shall
have the duty to assure its maintenance and preservation.
(2) The law shall reprimand any act of sabotage, corruption,
abuse of a public function, misdirection, dilapidation, and
dissipation.
Article 63 [Public Office]
Citizens charged with a public function or elected to a public
function shall have the duty to accomplish it conscientiously and
without discrimination.
Article 64 [Culture, Society, African Unity]
Every individual shall have the duty:
- to strive, in his relations with the society, for the preservation
and reinforcement of cultural values in a spirit of tolerance,
dialogue, and in concert and in a general fashion, to contribute
to the promotion of the moral health of the Society, to preserve
and reinforce the national unity and cohesiveness when they are
menaced; and
- to contribute to the best of his abilities, at all times and at all
levels to the promotion and the realization of african unity.
Article 65 [Environment]
(1) Every individual shall have the duty to contribute to the
improvement of the quality of life and the preservation of his
natural milieu as well as to the protection of the environment.
(2) Also, he shall have the duty not to negatively effect his
environment nor the well-being of his neighbors.
Article 66 [Constitution, Law, Regulations]
Every citizen shall have the duty to conform himself to the
Constitution, the laws, and the regulations of the Republic and
to discharge his obligations toward the State and the Society.
Article 67 [Head of State]
(1) The President of the Republic shall be the Head of State
(2) He shall assure the continuity of the State. He is the
guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity, and the
respect of international treaties and accords.
Article 68 [Election, Term, Eligibility]
(1) The President of the Republic shall be elected for five years
by direct universal suffrage. He shall be re-eligible one single
time.
(2) No one may be a candidate for the Office of President of
the Republic if he:
- is not of native Congolese nationality;
- does not possess all his civil and political rights;
- cannot attest to profession experience of at least 15 years;
- is not in possession of good physical and mental heath; or
- does not evidence good moral character.
Article 69 [Electoral Proceedings]
(1) The President of the Republic shall be elected by an
absolute majority of the votes cast. If this is not obtained in the
first round of balloting, it shall be followed, the second
following Sunday, by a second round. Only the two candidates
having received the largest number of votes in the first round
shall be presented.
(2) At the end of the second round, the candidate having won
shall be elected President of the Republic.
(3) Balloting shall be opened upon convocation of the
Government.
(4) The election of the new President shall take place at least
twenty days and at most thirty days before the expiration of the
mandate of the incumbent President.
(5) If in the seven days before the date limit for the filing of
presentations of candidature, one of the persons having, less
than thirty days before this date, publicly announced his
decision to be a candidate dies or finds himself incapacitated,
the Constitutional Council may decide to recall the election.
(6) If before the first round one of the candidates dies or finds
himself incapacitated, the Constitutional Council shall
pronounce the recall of the election.
(7) In the case of death or incapacitation of one of the two most
favored candidates in the first round, the Constitutional Council
shall declare that a new electoral operation will follow; the
same shall occur in the case of death or incapacitation of one of
the two candidates remaining for presentation in a second
round.
(8) In all cases, the Constitutional Council shall be seated in
conditions fixed in Article 143 or in those determined for
the presentation of a candidate by the law prescribed in Article
68.
(9) The Constitutional Council may prorogate the time periods
prescribed in Paragraph (4) and in Article 71 as long as
the balloting shall take place no more than ninety days after the
date of the decision of the Constitutional Council. If the
application of the provisions of the present paragraph shall have
the effect of recalling the election of the present President, he
shall remain in office until the proclamation of his successor.
Article 70 [Vacancy, Incapacity, Temporary Replacement]
In the case of vacancy of the Presidency of the Republic for
whatever reason, or incapacity declared by the Constitutional
Council convened by the Government and deciding by an
absolute majority of its members, the functions of the President
of the Republic, with the exception of those relative to
referendum and to the dissolution of the National Assembly,
shall be provisionally exercised by the President of the Senate.
If he is himself incapacitated for the exercise of these functions,
by the President of the National Assembly; if he is himself
incapacitated for the exercise of these functions by the Prime
Minister.
Article 71 [New Elections]
(1) In the case of vacancy or when the incapacity is definitively
declared by the Constitutional Council, the balloting for the
election of the new President of the Republic shall take place,
except in the case of force majeure declared by the
Constitutional Council, at least 45 days and at most 90 days
after the opening of the vacancy or the declaration of the
definitive character of the incapacity.
(2) In the interim, the Prime Minister shall not call into
question the responsibility of the Government before the
National Assembly nor may the National Assembly make use of
the motion to censure.
(3) The President of the Senate assuring the functions of the
President of the Republic shall neither dismiss the Prime
Minister and his Government nor proceed to amend the
Constitution.
Article 72 [Oath]
(1) When he enters office, the President of the Republic shall
take the following oath:
"Before the Nation and the Congolese People, the only
possessors of sovereignty, I ... , President of the Republic,
solemnly swear:
- to respect and defend the Constitution and the Republican
form of the State;
- to loyally fulfill the high functions that the Nation has confided
in me;
- to guarantee the respect of the fundamental laws of the human
person and the public liberties;
- to protect and respect the public good including the natural
resources and riches;
- to promote peace;
- to preserve the National Unity and the territorial integrity, the
national sovereignty and independence."
(2) The oath shall be received by the President of the
Constitutional Council who performs the act before the
Parliament, the Constitutional Council, and the Supreme Court.
Article 73 [Incompatibilities]
The functions of President of the Republic shall be incompatible
with the exercise of any other elective mandate, any public,
civil, or military employment, and any professional activity.
The mandate of the President of the Republic shall be equally
incompatible with any responsibility at the center of a party or a
political association.
Article 74 [Commercial Restrictions, Declaration, Remuneration]
(1) During their term, the President of the Republic and the
members of the Government shall not by themselves, nor
through intermediary, purchase anything that belongs to the
domain of the State.
(2) They shall be required, when they enter office and when
they leave, to make upon their honor a written declaration of all
their goods and possessions and to address it to the Office of
the Comptroller.
(3) They shall not take part in public sales or purchases and
adjudications for the administrations or institutions relevant to
the State or submitted to their control.
(4) They shall receive special treatment of which the amount
shall be determined by law. They shall occupy an official
residence.
Article 75 [Prime Minister, Ministers]
(1) The President of the Republic shall name the Prime Minister
approved by a parliamentary majority of the National
Assembly. He shall end the Prime Minister's functions when
the Prime Minister presents the resignation of the Government.
(2) He shall name the other members of the Government at the
suggestion of the Prime Minister. He shall end their terms of
office with the advice of the Prime Minister.
Article 76 [President and Government]
The President of the Republic shall preside over the Council of
Ministers.
Article 77 [Signing of Decrees, Nomination of Officers]
The President of the Republic shall sign the decrees taken in the
Council of Ministers. He shall name high political and military
officer of the State in the Council of Ministers.
Article 78 [Promulgation, Reconsideration]
(1) The President of the Republic shall promulgate laws within
the twenty days which follow the transmission to the
Government of the definitively adopted law.
(2) At any time, the President of the Republic may, before the
expiration of this time period, demand of the Parliament a new
deliberation of the law or of certain of its articles. This new
deliberation shall not be refused.
(3) Following this deliberation, the President of the Republic
shall be obligated to promulgate the amended law or not.
Article 79 [Referendum]
(1) The President of the Republic can, upon the initiative of the
Government during its sessions or upon the initiative of the
National Assembly published in the Official Journal, submit to
referendum
(2) When the referendum has ended in the adoption of the bill
or proposition, the President of the Republic shall promulgate it
within the time limit prescribed in the previous article.
Article 80 [Dissolution of Parliament]
When the equilibrium of the public institutions is interrupted
notably in the case of sharp and persistent crisis between the
executive power and the Parliament, or if the National
Assembly overturns the Government two times in the time of
one year, the President of the Republic can, after consultation
of the Prime Minister and the President of the National
Assembly, pronounce the dissolution of the National Assembly.
Article 81 [New Elections]
After the dissolution of the National Assembly, general
elections shall take place within a period of forty five days.
Article 82 [First Session]
(1) The National Assembly shall meet by right the second
Tuesday following its election. If this meeting takes place
outside of the periods prescribed for ordinary sessions, an
extraordinary session shall open by right for a duration of
fifteen days.
(2) It shall not be followed by a new dissolution in the year that
follows these elections.
Article 83 [Ambassadors]
The President of the Republic shall accredit Ambassadors and
Special Envoys to Foreign Powers, Foreign Ambassadors, and
Special Envoys shall be accredited to him.
Article 84 [Commander-in-Chief]
The President of the Republic is the Commander-in-Chief of the
Armed Forces. He shall preside at the High Councils and
Committees of National Defense.
Article 85 [Right of Pardon]
The President of the Republic exercises the right of pardon.
Article 86 [Messages to Parliament]
(1) The President of the Republic shall communicate with the
Parliament by messages which he shall have read and which
shall not be debated.
(2) Out of session, the Parliament shall specially convene for
this purpose.
Article 87 [Countersignatures]
The Acts of the President of the Republic other than those
relative to the nomination of the Prime Minister, referendum
message, and submission of laws to the Constitutional Council
shall be countersigned by the Prime Minister and, the case
arising, by the Ministers charged with their execution.
Article 88 [Responsibility]
The President of the Republic and the members of the
Government shall be responsible for acts accomplished in the
exercise of their functions in conformity with the provisions of
Title VIII.
Article 89 [Government, Responsibility]
(1) The Government shall determine and conduct the policy of
the Nation.
(2) It shall control the Administration and Public Authorities.
(3) It shall be responsible before the President of the Republic
and the National Assembly in the conditions and according to
the procedures prescribed in Articles 75 and 122.
Article 90 [Prime Minister]
(1) The Prime Minister is the Head of Government
(2) The law shall determine the conditions under which the
Prime Minister shall establish his employees.
(3) The Prime Minister can delegate certain powers to the
Ministers.
(4) He shall supplant, if need be, the President of the Republic
in presiding over the Councils and Committees prescribed in
Article 84.
(5) He may, in exceptional circumstances, supplant him in
presiding over the Council of Ministers in virtue of an express
delegation and for a fixed agenda.
(6) When he takes office, the Prime Minister shall present
before the Parliament a declaration of general policy. This
declaration shall not be debated, the Parliament shall take action
according to it.
Article 91 [Countersignature]
The acts of the Prime Minister shall be countersigned, if need
be, by the Ministers charged with their execution.
Article 92 [Incompatibilities]
The functions of a member of the Government shall be
incompatible with the exercise of any parliamentary mandate,
any office of professional representation, any public
employment and any compensated private activity, as well these
functions shall be incompatible with any responsibility at the
center of a political party or association.
Article 93 [Houses, Election, Eligibility]
(1) The Parliament
(2) The Deputies of the National Assembly shall be elected by
direct universal suffrage.
(3) No one shall be elected Deputy if he has not attained the
age of 25 years or if he is not a native born Congolese citizen.
(4) Senators shall be elected by indirect universal suffrage by
the Councils and Districts, Regions, Arrondisements, and
Communes. No one shall be elected Senator if he has not
attained the age of 50 years or if he is not a native born
Congolese citizen.
(5) The Deputies and Senators shall be re-eligible.
Article 94 [Term, Law on Parliament]
(1) The duration of the mandate of Deputies shall be 5 years,
the duration of the mandate of Senators shall be 6 years. The
Senate shall be renewable every two years by thirds. The first
third to renew shall be designated by chance.
(2) The mandate shall be unconditional. The law shall fix the
repartition of seats, indemnification, conditions of eligibility,
areas of ineligibility and incompatibilities to Parliament. It shall
also fix the conditions in which persons called to assure in the
case of the vacancy of a seat and the substitution of Deputies
and Senators until a general or partial renewal.
Article 95 [Indemnity, Immunity]
(1) No member of Parliament shall be pursued, investigated,
detained, or judged for opinions or votes express by him in the
exercise of his functions.
(2) No member of Parliament shall be, during the duration of
its sessions, pursued or arrested in a criminal or correctional
matter without the authorization of the House of which he is a
part, except in the case of flagrante delicto.
(3) No member of Parliament shall be, out of session, arrested
or pursued without the authorization of the Bureau of the
Chamber of which he is a member, except in the case of
flagrante delicto, authorized cases, or definitive condemnation.
(4) The detention or the pursuit of a member of Parliament shall
be suspended if the House of which he is a part requires it.
Article 96 [Representative and Personal Mandate]
(1) The mandate shall be representative. Any imperative
mandate shall be null and of no effect.
(2) The right to vote in Parliament shall be personal. At all
times, the delegation of a vote shall be permitted when a
member of Parliament is absent for a duly declared provisional
incapacity. In this case, no one may receive the delegation of
more than one mandate.
Article 97 [Regular Sessions]
(1) The Parliament shall meet by right in three ordinary
sessions per year. Each session shall have a duration of at most
two months.
(2) The first session shall open 2 March. The second session
shall open 2 July. The third session shall open 15 Oct.
(3) When the Parliament meets in congress, the Bureau of the
National Assembly shall preside over the debates.
Article 98 [Extraordinary Sessions]
(1) The Parliament shall meet in extraordinary session at the
request of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, or
a third of the members composing each of the Houses for a
fixed agenda.
(2) The closing shall intervene when the Parliament has
extinguished the agenda for which it was convened and at most
15 days from the date of the beginning of the meeting.
Article 99 [Proceedings, Publicity]
(1) The sessions shall be opened and closed by the President of
each House.
(2) Each House shall establish its interior regulations and elect
its established officials of at most seven members.
(3) The meetings of the two Houses shall be public. The
official record of debates shall be published in the Official
Journal.
(4) Each House may sit in closed session at the demand of the
President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, or one third of
its members.
Article 100 [Officials]
(1) The Officials of the National Assembly shall be elected for
the duration of the legislature. At any time, in the case of
change in the majority in course of the legislature, a new
President can be elected.
(2) The Officials of the Senate shall be elected after each partial
renewal.
Article 101 [Initiative]
(1) The Parliament shall have the legislative initiative and alone
pass the law. It shall establish taxes and pass the budget of the
State and control its execution. It shall be obligated with this
task at the opening of the Oct session.
(2) It shall have the initiative of legislative and constitutional
referendums.
Article 102 [Admission by Senate]
The Senate shall concur in the election of the members of the
Supreme Court and the members of the High Council of the
magistrate in conformity with the provisions of Article
129.
Article 103 [Competences of the Senate]
(1) The Senate, other than its legislative functions, shall assure
the representation of the interests of local units and
socio-cultural communities.
(2) It shall play the role of moderator and counsellor of the
Nation. The provisions of the present article may be specified
and completed by an organic law.
Article 104 [Domain of the Law]
(1) It shall be in the domain of the law
- the citizenship, the civic rights and fundamental guarantees
accorded to citizens in the exercise of public liberties, the
subjugations imposed, in the interest of the national defense,
and public security of citizens, in their person and their goods;
- the nationality, the state and the capacity of persons,
matrimonial systems, successions, and liberalities;
- the determination of crimes, misdemeanors, and
contraventions of the fifth class as well as the penalties which
shall be applicable to them, the organization of justice and the
procedure followed before the jurisdictions and for the
execution of judicial decisions, the status of the magistrate and
the juridical program of the High Council of the Magistrate,
ministerial offices and liberal professions;
- the base, rate, and manner of recovering impositions of every
nature, borrowing and financial engagements of the State;
- the program for the minting of coinage;
- the electoral program of Parliament and Local Assemblies;
- the general status of the Public Authority;
- the right to work and programs of social security;
- nationalizations, denationalizations of enterprises, and the
transfer of property of enterprises from the public sector to the
private sector;
- the disposition of free and charge titles of public and private
goods and of the public and private domain of the State;
- the plan for economic and social development;
- the environment and the conservation of natural resources;
- the system of ownership, of real rights, and civil and
commercial obligations;
- the system of political parties and the press;
- the approval of international treaties and accords;
- the organization of the national defense;
- the administration and disposition of the domain of the State;
- the free administration of local units, their areas of
competence, and their resources;
- the management of the territory;
- the mutuality, monetary system, and credit;
- the system of transport, communications, and information; and
- the penitentiary system.
(2) The law shall equally determine the fundamental principles:
- of instruction,
- of health,
- of science and technology,
- of culture, arts, and sports, and
- of agriculture, husbandry, fishing, waters and forests.
Article 105 [Budget and Planning Laws]
(1) The budgetary
(2) Planning laws shall fix the objectives of economic and social
action of the State and the Organization of production.
Article 106 [Declaration of War]
The declaration of war by the President of the Republic shall be
authorized by the Parliament convened in congress.
Article 107 [Regulatory Domain]
Matters other than those which are of the domain of the law
shall be of the regulatory domain.
Article 108 [Government and Parliament]
(1) Members of the Government shall have access to the
Parliament and its commissions. They shall be heard at the
demand of a member of Parliament, of a commission, or at
their own request.
(2) They can be assisted by colleagues.
(3) In the case of the absence of a titled Minister, his
intermediary shall replace him.
Article 109 [State of Emergency and Siege]
(1) When it appears that an imminent peril resulting in grave
results to public order or in the case of events presenting
themselves, by their nature and their gravity, the character of
the public calamity or national disaster, the President of the
Republic may decree in the Council of Ministers a state of
emergency over a part or the whole of the national territory.
(2) When it appears an imminent peril resulting either from a
menace of foreign character, or an insurrection of the Armed
Forces, or grave events occurred despite the state of
emergency, the President of the Republic may declare in the
Council of Ministers a state of siege.
(3) In both cases, the Parliament shall meet by right if it is not
in session in order to appreciate the legality of the decision of
the President of the Republic.
(4) The extension of the state of siege or the state of emergency
for more than fifteen days shall only be authorized by the
Parliament.
(5) The law shall determine the manner of application of the
present article.
Article 110 [Legislation Procedure]
(1) The initiation of legislation belongs concurrently to the
Government and to the members of Parliament.
(2) Bills shall be deliberated in the Council of Ministers after
the advice of the Supreme Court and filed with the office of one
of the other Houses by the Prime Minister.
(3) Budgetary acts shall be submitted first to the National
Assembly.
(4) Propositions of law which are stopped by Parliament shall
be, before deliberation and vote, addressed for information to
the Government.
Article 111 [Budgetary Impact Laws]
Propositions and amendments filed by the members of Parliament
shall not be acceptable when the adoption would have in
consequence either a diminution of the public resources, or the
creation or aggravation of a public obligation, at least when they
are not accompanied by a proposition for the augmentation of
revenues or corresponding economizing.
Article 112 [Irreceivability of Bills]
(1) Bills, propositions, and amendments which are not of the
domain of the law are not receivable.
(2) Irreceivability shall be pronounced by the President of the
interested House after deliberation of the office.
(3) In the case of contestation on Paragraph (1), the
Constitutional Council, seated by the President or the interested
House, or by the Government shall decree within a period of
eight days.
Article 113 [Discussion, Vote]
The discussion of bills shall occur, before the convened House,
upon the text presented by the Government. One House
convened to consider a text passed by the other House shall
vote upon the text transmitted to it.
Article 114 [Special and Permanent Commissions]
(1) Bills and propositions of law shall be at the demand of the
Government or the House seated to review it, sent for
examination to commissions specially designated for this
purpose.
(2) Bills and propositions of law for which such a demand has
not been made shall be sent to one of the Permanent
Commissions of which the number shall be determined by the
Internal Regulations of each House.
Article 115 [Right of Amendment]
The members of Parliament and the Government shall have the
right of amendment.
Article 116 [Joint Commission, Definitive Decree]
(1) Every bill or proposition of law shall be examined
successively in both Houses with a view of adoption of an
identical text.
(2) When, followed by a disagreement between the two Houses,
a bill or proposition of law cannot be adopted after a reading by
each House, the Prime Minister shall have the ability to
provoke the reunion of a joint commission charged with
proposing a text on the provisions remaining in discussion.
(3) The text elaborated upon by the Joint Commission may be
submitted by the Government for approval of both Houses.
(4) If the Joint Commission cannot arrive at the adoption of a
common text, the Government may after a new reading by the
National Assembly and by the Senate, demand of the National
Assembly a definitive decree.
(5) In this case, the National Assembly may take up either the
text elaborated by the Joint Commission, or the last text passed
by it, modified, if such be the case, by one or several
amendments adopted by the Senate.
Article 117 [Organic Laws]
(1) Laws to which the Constitution gives the character of
organic laws, except the budgetary act, shall be voted and
modified in the following conditions:
- The bill or proposition shall only be submitted to deliberation
and vote of the first House after the expiration of a period of
fifteen days after its filing.
- The procedure of Article 116 shall be applicable. At all
times lacking agreement between the two Houses, the text shall
only be adopted by the National Assembly at its last reading by
an absolute majority of its members.
- Organic laws relative to the Senate shall be passed in the same
terms by both Houses.
(2) Organic laws shall only be promulgated after a declaration
by the Constitutional Council of their conformity to the
Constitution.
Article 118 [Budgetary Act]
(1) The budgetary act for the year comprising the report and
explicative annexes shall be filed and distributed 15 Oct at the
latest of the year which proceeds the year of execution of the
budget. It shall be immediately returned to a Parliamentary
Commission.
(2) The National Assembly shall decide upon the first reading
within a period of fifteen days after the filing of the budgetary
act.
(3) If the National Assembly has not announced a vote in the
first reading upon the act within the period here stated, the
Government shall obligate the Senate to an amended initial text.
The Senate shall decide within a period of fifteen days on the
first reading.
(4) If the Senate does not decide in the period here stated, the
National Assembly shall be obligated with the budgetary act.
This law shall only contain strictly financial provisions.
(5) If after the last reading of the Senate the budgetary act has
not been adopted, the President of the Republic shall convene
the Parliament in extraordinary session.
(6) The budgetary act shall be passed 31 Dec at the latest.
Article 119 [Assistance of Comptroller's Office]
(1) An organic law shall regulate the mode of presentation of
the budget. The Parliament shall regulate the accounts of the
State. It shall be assisted in this task by the Comptroller's
Office.
(2) The National Assembly can charge the Comptroller's Office
with all inquiries and studies coinciding with the execution of
the public receipts and expenses or with the administration of
the treasury.
Article 120 [Regulatory Bill]
The regulatory bill shall be filed and distributed at the latest at
the end of the year that follows the year of execution of the
budget.
Article 121 [Agenda, Urgency]
(1) The agenda of each House shall comprise the bills and
propositions in the order of their filing with the Office of the
House so charged.
(2) At all times, the bills and propositions of law recognized as
urgent may be examined in priority.
Article 122 [Declaration of Policy, Motion of Censure]
(1) The Prime Minister, after the deliberation of the Council of
Ministers, shall engage before the National Assembly the
responsibility of the Government on its program or eventually
upon a declaration of general policy.
(2) The National Assembly shall put in question the
responsibility of the Government by the passage of a motion of
censure. Such a motion shall only be receivable if it is signed
by a tenth of the members of the National Assembly. The
passage shall only take place forty eight hours after its filing.
Only the favorable votes to the motion shall be counted which
can only be adopted by an absolute majority of the members
composing the Assembly. If the motion of censure is rejected,
these signatories shall not propose a new one in the course of
the same session, except in the case prescribed in the above
article.
(3) The Prime Minister can, after deliberation of the Council of
Ministers, engage the responsibility of the Government before
the National Assembly upon the passage of a text. In this case,
this text shall be considered as adopted; except if a motion of
censure, filed in the twenty four hours which follow, is passed
in the conditions prescribed in the preceding paragraph.
Article 123 [Resignation of Government]
When the National Assembly has adopted a motion of censure
or when it disapproves of the program or a declaration of
general policy of the Government, the Prime Minister shall
remit to the President of the Republic the resignation of the
Government.
Article 124 [Delay for Motion of Censure]
The closure of ordinary and extraordinary sessions shall be by
right delayed in order to permit, if need be, the application of
the provisions of Article 122.
Article 125 [Interpellations]
(1) The Government shall be obligated to furnish to Parliament
all explanations which are demanded of it on its administration
and its activities.
(2) The means of information and control of Parliament over
the Government shall be:
- interpellation,
- written question,
- oral question,
- commission of inquiry,
- motion of censure, and
- audition in commission.
(3) These means shall be exercised in the conditions determined
by the Interior Regulation of each House.
Article 126 [Institution, Presidency, Procedure]
(1) A High Court of Justice shall be instituted. The High Court
of Justice shall be composed of members elected at the center
of and in equal numbers by Parliament and the Supreme Court.
(2) The President of the High Court of Justice shall be elected
by his peers.
(3) The Law shall fix the composition of the High Court of
Justice, the rules of its functioning as well as the applicable
procedure before it.
Article 127 [High Treason of President]
(1) The President of the Republic shall be responsible for the
acts committed in the exercise of his functions in the case of
high treason.
(2) In this case, he shall be arraigned before the High Court of
Justice by Parliament decreeing by a two thirds majority of its
members.
Article 128 [Competences]
(1) The High Court of Justice shall be competent to judge the
President of the Republic, the Members of Government,
Members of Parliament, Members of the Supreme Court,
Members of the High Council of the Magistrate, and the Heads
of Courts for reason of acts qualified as crimes and
misdemeanors committed in the exercise of their functions as
well as in order to judge their accomplices in the case of a plot
against the security of the State.
(2) In the case prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the High
Court shall be confined by the definition of crimes and
misdemeanors as well as by the determination of penalties such
that they result from the penal laws in effect at the moment
when the acts were committed.
(3) The arraignment shall be conducted in conformity with
Paragraph (2).
Article 129 [Supreme Court, Independence]
(1) Judicial Authority
(2) It shall be independent
(3) The Supreme Court shall consist of Magistrates elected by
Parliament convened in congress in conditions fixed by law.
(4) The members of the Supreme Court shall be irremovable.
They shall continue in function until the age of retirement,
except in the case of condemnation for crimes and
misdemeanors, indignity, insanity, resignation, death, or
definitive incapacity.
(5) The law shall fix the organization, the composition, and the
functioning of the Supreme Court.
Article 130 [No Modification or Influence]
(1) The Legislative Authority shall neither decree upon
contestations, nor modify a decision of justice.
(2) Any law of which the goal is to furnish a solution to an
ongoing process shall be prohibited.
Article 131 [No Influence of Executive]
The Executive Authority shall neither decree upon
contestations, nor impede the courts of justice, nor oppose the
execution of a judicial decision.
Article 132 [No Intrusion Into Other Powers]
The Judicial Authority shall neither incrementally intrude upon
the attributes of the Legislative Authority nor upon those of the
Executive Authority.
Article 133 [Decisions, Magistrates]
(1) The Judicial Authority shall decree upon the actions born of
the application of the law and regulation. Its decisions shall be
rendered in the name of the Congolese People.
(2) A law shall define the status of Magistrates.
Article 134 [Elections of Magistrates]
(1) The Magistrates shall be instituted by the High Council of
the Magistrate presided over by the President of the Republic.
(2) It shall consist of the President of the Supreme Court,
Member by right, and the Magistrates elected by the Parliament
convened in congress in conditions fixed by law.
Article 135 [High Council of the Magistrates]
(1) The High Council of the Magistrate shall be the guarantor
of the independence of the Judicial Authority.
(2) On proposition of the High Council of the Magistrate, the
President of the Republic shall name the Magistrates to their
seats and tribunals.
(3) The law shall fix the organization, composition, and the
functioning of the High Council of the Magistrate.
Article 136 [Disciplinary Authority]
(1) The High Council of the Magistrate shall decree as
Disciplinary Council and as the organ of the carriers of the
Magistrates.
(2) It is thus presided over by the First President of the
Supreme Court.
Article 137 [Guardianship of Individual Liberties]
(1) No one shall be arbitrarily detained.
(2) The Judicial Authority, guardian of individual liberties, shall
assure the respect of this principle in conditions fixed by law.
Article 138 [Institution]
A Constitutional Council
Article 139 [Members, Eligibility, Renewal, Oath]
(1) The Constitutional Council shall consist of nine members
distributed as follows:
- two Magistrates elected by the High Council of the
Magistrate;
- two Law Professors from the University elected by their
peers;
- two Lawyers elected by their peers; and
- three members named proportionally one by the President of
the Republic, by the President of the National Assembly, and
by the President of the Senate.
(2) The members of the Constitutional Council, irrespective of
their mode of designation, shall attest to a professional
experience of at least fifteen years.
(3) The Constitutional Council shall be renewed by thirds every
two years.
(4) When they take office, the members of the Council shall
take an oath before the Parliament convened in Congress.
Article 140 [President of the Council]
(1) The President of the Constitutional Council shall be elected
by his peers for a duration of two years renewable.
(2) He shall have the deciding voice in the case of an equal
division of voices.
Article 141 [Incompatibilities]
The functions of a member of the Constitutional Council shall
be incompatible with those of a Minister or a member of
Parliament. Other incompatibilities shall be fixed by law.
Article 142 [Competences]
(1) The Constitutional Council shall assure the control of the
constitutionality of laws, international treaties and accords.
(2) It shall he the principle regulator of the activities of public
authorities.
Article 143 [Control of Presidential Elections]
The Constitutional Council shall ensure the regularity of the
election of the President of the Republic, it shall examine
contestations and proclaim the results of balloting.
Article 144 [Control of Parliamentary and Local Elections]
The Constitutional Council shall decree in the case of
contestation upon the regularity of legislative and local
elections.
Article 145 [Control of Referenda]
The Constitutional Council shall ensure the regularity of the
operations of referendum and proclaim their results.
Article 146 [Advice on Constitutionality of Legislation]
Treaties, Bills, and Propositions of law before their ratification
or their adoption by Parliament shall be submitted for advise by
the Government to the Constitutional Council which shall
pronounce upon their conformity to the Constitution.
Article 147 [Submission of Laws for Control]
(1) Organic laws and the interior regulations of the National
Assembly, Senate, and Local Councils shall before their being
applied, be submitted to the Constitutional Council which shall
pronounce upon their conformity to the Constitution.
(2) To the same end, laws before their promulgation may be
deferred to the Constitutional Council by the President of the
Republic, the Prime Minister, the President of the National
Assembly, the President of the Senate, the President of the
Supreme Court, the President of the High Council of
Information and Communication, the Presidents of Local
Councils, or a third of the Deputies or Senators.
(3) In the two cases prescribed in the preceding paragraphs, the
Constitutional Council shall decree within a period of one
month. Always, at the express demand of the initiator, this
period may be reduced to ten days if urgency exists.
(4) In these cases, the consideration of the Constitutional
Council suspends the period of promulgation or publication.
Article 148 [Review on Individual Application]
(1) Any person
(2) In the case of unconstitutional exception, the jurisdiction
shall delay to decree and give to the initiator a period of one
month from the notification of the decision.
Article 149 [Binding and Final Force]
The decisions of the Constitutional Council shall not be
susceptible to any recourse. They impose themselves upon
public powers, all public authorities, judiciaries, and
particularities.
Article 150 [Unconstitutional Provisions]
A provision declared unconstitutional shall not be promulgated
nor given effect.
Article 151 [Law on Procedure]
The law shall determine the rules of organization of functioning
of the Constitutional Council, the procedure, and notably the
periods within which contestations must be brought.
Article 152 [Institution]
An Economic and Social Council shall be instituted.
Article 153 [Competences]
(1) The Economic and Social Council shall be, according to its
public powers, a consultative assembly.
(2) It may upon its own initiative examine any problem of a
economic or social character interesting the Republic of the
Congo.
(3) It may also be seated by the President of the Republic, the
Prime Minister, the President of the National Assembly, and the
President of the Senate.
(4) The Council may equally be consulted on projects of
international treaties and agreements, bills and propositions of
law as well as on projects and decrees by reason of their
economic or social character.
(5) The Council shall be obligatorily seated with any bill,
programming project, or plan of development of an economic
or social character except for the budget of the State.
Article 154 [Incompatibilities]
The office of a member of the Economic and Social Council
shall be incompatible with those of a Member of Parliament,
Minister, Member of the Constitutional Council, Prefect,
Mayor, Sub-Prefect, Head of PCA, and local Councillor.
Article 155 [Law on Composition and Procedure]
The composition, organization, and functioning of the
Economic and Social Council shall be fixed by law.
Article 156 [Institution]
A High Council of Information and Communication shall be
instituted.
Article 157 [Competences]
(1) The High Council of Information and Communication shall
strive to ensure the respect of rules of professional
responsibility guarantee the freedom of information, of the
press, and the pluralist expression of public opinion.
(2) It shall regulate the relations of communication between the
public powers, organs of information, and the public, give
technical advice, and recommendations on questions touching
the domain of information and communication.
Article 158 [Composition, Eligibility]
(1) The High Council of Information and Communication shall
be composed of eleven members of which three shall be elected
from among professionals, two named by the President of the
Republic, three by Parliament convened in Congress, and one
elected by scientific and intellectual Associations, one elected
by civil Associations, one elected by Consumer Associations.
(2) The members shall attest to a professional experience of at
least ten years.
Article 159 [Election]
The High Council of Information and Communication shall
elect its office from among its members.
Article 160 [Organizational Law]
The organization and the functioning of the High Council of
Information and Communication shall be fixed by law.
Article 161 [Forces, Personnel]
(1) The Public Force shall be composed of the National Police,
the National Guard, and the Congolese Armed Forces.
(2) The law shall fix their organization and their functioning as
well as the special status of Police, National Guard, and Armed
Forces personnel.
Article 162 [Apolitical Nature, Subordination, Activation]
(1) The Public Force shall be apolitical. It is submitted to the
laws and regulations of the Republic. It is instituted in the
general interest. No one shall utilize it to particular ends.
(2) The Public Force shall be subordinate to the civil authority.
It shall only act within the order of laws and regulations.
(3) Conditions of activation shall be fixed by law.
Article 163 [National Police]
The National Police shall be a civil force of a paramilitary
character. Its action shall be exercised in day as well as night
on the national territory of the Republic in respect of
fundamental liberties and Human Rights.
Article 164 [National Guard]
The National Guard shall be a force of a military and civil
nature; its action shall be exercised on the territory of the
Republic and in respect of fundamental liberties and Human
Rights.
Article 165 [Missions of Police and Guard]
The National Police and the National Guard shall have for
missions to:
- assure the respect of the administrative laws and regulations of
the Police and the Police judiciary;
- strive for the security and the protection of persons and public
goods;
- strive for public tranquility and order;
- assure the maintenance and reestablishment of public order;
and
- strive for the security of the State.
Article 166 [Division of Competences]
The law shall determine the division of competencies between
the Police and the National Guard.
Article 167 [Armed Forces]
Military defense shall be assured by a National Armed Forces
Article 168 [Mission of the Armed Forces]
(1) The Congolese Armed Forces have the mission to defend
the integrity of the national territory against any form of
exterior armed aggression.
(2) The Congolese Armed Forces shall participate in the
economic, social, and cultural development in conditions fixed
by laws and regulations.
Article 169 [Establishment]
Local Units
Article 170 [Personality, Autonomy, Councils]
(1) The Local Units shall have legal personality. They shall
possess administrative, patrimonial, financial, economic,
cultural, and social autonomy.
(2) Local Units shall have for deliberative organs, Councils
elected by direct universal suffrage which shall name at their
center one or several executive offices.
Article 171 [Organizational Law]
The law shall determine the juridical status, the powers, the
attributes, and the functioning of the Local Units and their
relations with the central authorities.
Article 172 [Negotiation, Ratification, Referendum]
(1) The President of the Republic negotiates, signs, and ratifies
treaties.
(2) Ratification shall only intervene after the authorization of
Parliament notably in that which concerns Peace Treaties,
Defense Treaties, Commercial Treaties, Treaties relative to
natural resources, or Accords relative to international
organization, those which engage the finances of the State,
those which modify the provisions of a legislative nature, those
which are relative to the state of persons, those which include
cession, exchange, or addition of territory.
(3) No cession, exchange, or addition of territory shall be valid
without the consent of the Congolese people called to
pronounce by way of referendum.
Article 173 [Information On Non-Ratification Treaties]
(1) The President of the Republic and the Parliament shall be
informed of all negotiation leading to the conclusion of the
international Accord not submitted to ratification.
(2) The law shall determine the Accords not subject to the
procedure of ratification.
Article 174 [Authorization]
With the exception of the President of the Republic, the Prime
Minister, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, any
representative of the Congolese State shall for adoption or
authentication of an international engagement, produce clear
proof of his appropriate powers.
Article 175 [Supremacy of the Constitution]
If the Constitutional Council has declared that an international
engagement contains a clause contrary to the Constitution,
authorization to ratify or approve it shall only intervene in the
case of revision of the Constitution.
Article 176
Treaties and Accords regularly ratified or approved shall have,
from their publication, an authority superior to that of laws
under the reserve for each Accord or Treaty, of its application
by the other party.
Article 177 [Intergovernmental Associations]
(1) The Republic of the Congo may conclude Accords of
association with other States.
(2) It shall accept to create with these other States
intergovernmental organizations of common administration,
coordination, free cooperation, and integration.
Article 178 [Initiative, Majority, Referendum, Restrictions]
(1) The initiative of amendment of the Constitution shall belong
concurrently to the President of the Republic, the Government,
and Members of Parliament.
(2) The conditions of initiative shall be determined by an
organic law.
(3) The bill or proposition of amendment of the Constitution
shall be passed by the two Houses convened in Congress by a
two thirds majority. The amendment shall be definitive after
having been approved by referendum.
(4) No procedure of amendment shall be engaged in or followed
when it attempts to touch the integrity of the territory.
(5) The republican form, the secularity of the State, and the
number of mandates of the President of the Republic shall not
be the object of any amendment.
(6) Amendment shall not have the object of the reduction or the
abolition of fundamental rights and liberties enunciated in Title
II
Article 179 [Transitional Institutions]
(1) The institutions of the Republic prescribed by the present
Constitution shall be effective at the end of the period of
transition conforming to Article 89 of the Fundamental Act.
(2) The duration of their mandate shall run from their definitive
effectuation.
(3) The President of the Republic, the High Council of the
Republic, and the Transitional Government shall continue to
exercise their functions until the installation of the new
institutions in conformity with Article 88 of the Fundamental
Act.
(4) The attributes conferred upon the Constitutional Council by
the provisions contained in Title X shall be exercised
until the effectuation of this Council by the Supreme Court.
Article 180 [Viable Old Laws]
The laws and regulations now in force, when they are not
contrary to the present Constitution, shall remain applicable so
long as they have not been modified or abrogated.
Article 181 [Referendum, Publication, Effectuation]
(1) The present Constitution which abrogates any of the
provisions previously contrary, shall be submitted to the
approval of the people by way of referendum, published in the
Official Journal as the supreme law of the Republic.
(2) It shall become effective at the moment of the definitive
effectuation of new democratic institutions.