Tunisia – annual report 2023

Details
Published: September 4, 2024

Strategic Framework

Legal Policy Starting Point

The legal and political situation in Tunisia remains tense under President Saied and is considered critical by external observers. In December 2022 and January 2023, a parliament was elected for the first time on the basis of the electoral system, which has been significantly changed by the new constitution and is not only organized according to political parties. Instead, the role of the provinces has been strengthened by a more regional electoral system (second Senate). The economic situation is also difficult: inflation, unemployment and poverty remain high, with the inflation rate at around 10 percent and unemployment at around 16 percent.

Despite the political upheaval and the associated criticism, reforms in the justice sector continued in 2023 on the basis of the action plan developed by the Tunisian Ministry of Justice to reform the justice system in the period 2022–2025. The main focus lies on modernizing and digitizing the judiciary, optimizing the duration of proceedings, promoting the independence of the judiciary and combating and preventing corruption.

In July 2023, the European Union and Tunisia signed a declaration of intent to combat illegal migration.

Overall Concept

The project activities funded by the Federal Ministry of Justice to support legal reform in Tunisia, which IRZ has been implementing since 2011, continue to be based on the Memorandum of Understanding on legal cooperation concluded between the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tunisia at the beginning of 2017. The technical priorities of this agreement include criminal and criminal procedural law, issues relating to the penal system, court structure and court organization, the digitisation of the judiciary and the establishment of a commercial judiciary as well as the fight against corruption. In 2023, IRZ and its Tunisian partner institutions focused on the topics of “private law” and “arbitration”. Cooperation in civil and commercial law also focused on deepening the areas of “investment promotion and protection” and “real estate law”.

IRZ also carried out project activities as part of the “Ta’ziz Partnership for Democracy” initiated by the Federal Foreign Office in 2021 to support the reform processes in the area of legislative drafting and technique and preventive criminal policy in Tunisia.

In addition to the Tunisian Ministry of Justice, the Public Prosecutor General‘s Office has also been a project partner of IRZ for several years. Depending on the thematic focus, individual specialist areas of the Tunisian judiciary, the Bar Association, the university sector and the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies (CEJJ), which works on behalf of the Ministry of Justice, are also important partners for cooperation in Tunisia.

Focus of Activity in 2023

Civil and Commercial Law

  • Workshop on “Modernization of arbitration” in cooperation with the German Arbitration Institute and the German Federal Bar in Tunis
  • Seminar on “Modernization of the land register and the real estate court as well as process optimization in property registration” in cooperation with the Federal Chamber of Notaries (hybrid event)
  • Regional conference on “Optimizing the investment climate and promoting investment incentives and protection” in Tunis in cooperation with the German Federal Bar and the Ministries of Justice of Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania (hybrid event)
  • Participation in the international conference on private international law in Tunis

Criminal and Penitentiary law

  • Seminar on “The right to defense – legal remedies in criminal proceedings” in cooperation with the German Federal Bar in Kairouan, Tunisia (hybrid event)
  • Further training on “Alternatives to custodial sentences and to pre-trial detention” in Tunis
  • Several working group meetings of two working groups on the topics “Methodology for the development of a preventive penal policy“ and “Penal and sanction system in Tunisia” to develop recommendations for the reform of criminal law in Tunisia as well as a seminar to present the results of the work carried out
  • Study trip to Berlin on the topic of the “Development of a preventive penal policy and penal and sanction system in Tunisia and Germany”

Legislative technique

  • Several meetings of two working groups on the topics of “Standardization of the legislative process in Tunisia“ and “Conformity and harmonization of new and existing laws with international standards for good legislation” to develop guidelines on their respective topics and a seminar to present the results of their work
  • Study trip to Berlin on the topic of legislation

Basic and Further Training

  • Consultation and workshops on the reintroduction of a specialist degree in “Legislative drafting and technique” at several legal training and further education institutions in Tunisia with lecturers from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tunis and support for the reintroduction of the course at the virtual University of Tunis
  • Several workshops on the topic of “Training of Trainers” with teaching staff from the law faculties in the areas of “Legislative drafting and Criminal Law”
  • Publication of the legal journal “Ecrits” with articles on current legal policy issues by authors in Arabic and French
  • Blog for African and German law “IRZ Dialogue Juridique Afro-Allemand” with ongoing online publications by authors in German, Arabic and French on current legal policy issues from the IRZ partner states Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Senegal as well as from Germany

Outlook

Based on the current need for reform, IRZ’s activities planned for 2024 aim to continue to support the implementation of legal and judicial reform in Tunisia within the scope of the given possibilities. Cooperation with state and civil society actors in the areas of modernizing commercial law, civil and criminal law and combating corruption remain important topics. The protection of vulnerable groups in the justice system will also remain a relevant focus in 2024. IRZ will continue to involve Tunisian justice actors in regional project activities in order to promote regional stability and South-South cooperation.