102. The Senegalese Constitution also establishes that « treaties or agreements
duly ratified or approved, on publication, have an authority superior to that of
State laws, subject, in the case of each agreement or treaty, to its application
by the other party»20. Consequently, the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights, just like other human rights legal instruments ratified by Senegal
is a component of the national legal system which State institutions, in particular
judicial institutions are duty-bound to enforce when its provisions are invoked
before them21.
103. The supreme law of the country also makes the judiciary the custodian of
the rights and freedoms which it establishes22. The judicial reform of human
rights, in particular, is within the purview of the highest Constitutional courts and
the ordinary courts23.
104. In his work on the establishment of rights and obligations, the lawmaker, as
the administrative authority, may set limits to the contents or the conditions for
exercising the legal provisions on human rights. In such cases, the Constitutional
Council may be called upon to prevent the promulgation of the law in
accordance with two procedures, particularly by way of action or of exception:
20
Seisure by legal proceedings: The Constitution of Senegal empowers the
President of the Republic or the deputies representing 1/10th of the
members of the National Assembly to refer a matter to the Constitutional
Council to seek remedy for the determination of the constitutionality of a
law before its enactment. Hence, any law which is not consistent with the
provisions of human rights can be referred to the Constitutional Council
for purposes of such a determination.
Seisure by way of a plea: the Constituent Assembly understood
«democratize» access to the Constitutional Council to mean a
determination of the Constitutionality of a law by using the mechanism of
seisure by way of a plea. In fact, this seisure is more open, as every
individual who is seeking remedy in a court can, under certain conditions
Cf. Article 98 of the Constitution of Senegal.
21
For instance, the Association of persons with physical disabilities of Senegal brought before the Council of State
the issue of violation by the academic authorities of Senegal of relevant provisions (Articles 2 and 3) of the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights relating to non-discrimination (Decision No 12 of 29 June, 2000) whereas
the RADDHO (the African Meeting for the Defense of Human Rights) and its President, Mr. Alioune Tine referred
to Article 11 of the same Charter to buttress the ultra vires appeal before the Supreme Court against the ban on
demonstration by the Prefect of the Department of Dakar (Decision No 35 of 13 October 2011).
22
For instance, in addition to the decisions already taken, it is important to state that the judgment of the erstwhile
Council of State of Senegal in which it reaffirmed the rule of non-discrimination among people living in Senegal laid
down in Article 96 of the Treaty establishing the West African Economic and Monetary Union (Decision No 76 of
31 August 1994, Prosper Guéna NITCHEN et al) and quite recently the Decision of the Supreme Court of Senegal
relating to the participation of Senegalese citizens in local elections (Decision No 31 of 11 August 2011, Oumar
Gueye et al, Jean-Paul Dias et al vs. Government of Senegal).
23
Cf Article 91 of the Constitution.
24