| Constitution of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria | |
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| Overview | |
| Jurisdiction |  Algeria |
| Ratified | 10 September 1963; 62 years ago (1963-09-10) |
| Date effective | 10 September 1963; 62 years ago (1963-09-10) |
| System | Unitarysemi-presidential republic |
| Government structure | |
| Branches | Three (Executive, Legislature and Judiciary) |
| Head of state | President of Algeria |
| Chambers | Bicameral (Council of the Nation andPeople's National Assembly) |
| Executive | Prime minister–ledcabinet responsible to thelower house of theparliament |
| Judiciary | Supreme Court |
| Last amended | 7 February 2016 |
| Author(s) | National Liberation Front |
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Constitution |
| Algeria portal |
 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2011) |
AnAlgerian Constitution (Arabic:دستور الجزائر,romanized: Dustūr al-Jazāʼir) was first adopted by areferendum in 1963, following theAlgerian War of Independence (1954–62); originally, it was to be drafted by a constitutional assembly led byFerhat Abbas, but this body was sidelined by Algeria's firstPresident,Ahmed Ben Bella. In its 1963 form, the constitution declared Algeria aone-party state ruled by the former resistance movement, theNational Liberation Front (FLN). This constitution was suspended by the militarycoup d'état of 1965. After years of ruling by executive fiat as leader of theRevolutionary Council,Houari Boumédienne issued a second constitution in 1976, emphasizing the importance ofsocialism and - formally - restoring political institutions to their primacy over the military establishment. (Boumédienne was then elected the country's second president, after having left the post vacant for eleven years.)
In 1986, Boumedienne's successorChadli Bendjedid modified the constitution to allow forfree-market reforms, and, after the1988 October Riots, brought in a new constitution in 1988. This was approved in areferendum by 73% on 23 February 1989. It introduced a multi-party system, removing the FLN from its role as leading party, and made no mention ofsocialism; instead it promised "freedom of expression,association, andassembly". A 1992 military coup introduced astate of emergency, which suspended parts of the new constitution, as theAlgerian Civil War began.
In 1996, the constitution was further modified, allowing the formation of political parties not "founded on a religious, linguistic, racial, sex, corporatist or regional basis" or violating "the fundamental liberties, the fundamental values and components of the national identity, the national unity, the security and integrity of the national territory, the independence of the country and the People's sovereignty as well as the democratic and republican nature of the State."
A further proposed revision, believed to be intended to remove the presidential term limit (Article 74) to allow the President to run for office indefinitely often, was discussed during 2006 byPrime MinisterAbdelaziz Belkhadem's government. This was widely seen to be instigated by PresidentAbdelaziz Bouteflika, who had been elected to his second and, constitutionally, final mandate in 2004. Other changes discussed concerned a move towards apresidential system, introducing the post ofVice President among other things.
A new constitution was adopted in 2020 in a national referendum that had very low turnout. Changes included adding term limits for the president as well as new powers for the parliament and judiciary.[1]
The 1996 constitution was modified in 2008[2] and amended by2016 Constitution.[3] Before Algeria the 1996 constitutionAlgeria had a constitution referendum in 1989.
