of powers. In addition to these powers, we observe the existence of other state bodies contributing
to the successful pursuit of democracy and the rule of law.
1) THE EXECUTIVE
12. The Executive has not witnessed any change since the last report of 2016. It reflects the
semi-presidential nature of the regime. The Government is made up of 45 members who represent
the various political persuasions supporting the President of the Republic. However, it can be seen
that one of the candidates of the March 2016 presidential election was appointed a High
Representative of the President of the Republic on 20 October 2016.
2) THE LEGISLATURE
13. This branch also did not witness any change. The 171-member National Assembly is still
unicameral. It discharges its mandate of supervising the activities of the government mainly
through the invitation of several members of government to answer questions of topical
importance and the rejection of a vote of no confidence moved by 35 opposition parliamentarians
on 27 June 2019, with 38 votes in favour and 132 against.
3) THE JUDICIARY
14. Article 116 of the Constitution states that “judicial power shall be exercised by the
Constitutional Court, Court of Appeal, Controller and Auditor General, Council of State, Courts
and Tribunals.” With the exception of the extension of the term of some members, the terms of
reference or running of the higher courts have not witnessed any change since the last report was
submitted. On the other hand, the organization of the country’s judiciary has witnessed a marked
development in order to take both the security, administrative and socio-economic challenges of
the country into account and to honour the commitments arising from the ratification of
international conventions.
15.
Thus, Law No. 2018-37 of 1 June 2018 establishing the organization and jurisdiction of
courts in the Republic of Niger has extended the judicial coverage of the country, taking into
account administrative demarcation and “full communalization.” The various reforms undertaken
in the judicial sector had to do with the following aspects:
At the central level, the jurisdiction of the section of the judiciary specializing in the fight against
terrorism was extended to organized cross border crime through the adoption of Law No. 2017-07 of
31 March 2017;
An Appeals’ Court has been established at the Headquarters of each administrative region. Thus, the
number of these structures increased from two (2) to eight (8). For the time being, the Tahoua court
is the only one among these courts to have been provided with staff and equipment and is actually in
its set-up phase. The setting up of the other courts will be done gradually;
Specialized courts have been established at each of the ten (10) high courts of the country: labour
courts, commercial courts, administrative courts, juvenile courts and rural land courts;
In the four (4) communes with the status of Cities, the new law (Law No. 2018-37 of 1 June 2018)
provided for the establishment of courts in each of the administrative subdivisions, i.e. five (5) in
Niamey, five (5) in Zinder, three (3) in Maradi and three (3) in Tahoua. The district courts of the city
of Niamey have just been established, following the High Judicial Council meeting of 30 July 2019;
at the level of the departments, the twenty-seven (27) new entities established were each provided
with a subdistrict court, thereby bringing the total number of subdistrict courts to forty-seven (47).
These courts will share their jurisdiction with the rural land courts;
To complete the coverage of the country and to bring justice closer to the people, communal courts
will also be established in all the rural communes of the country, and
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