Rights
The 2018 constitution, revising the Arusha power-sharing settlement
The 2005 constitution implemented the Arusha Agreement's ethnic quotas — 60% Hutu and 40% Tutsi in the National Assembly and government, with 50/50 in the army. The 2018 constitution retained the quotas but extended the presidential term to seven years, reduced the majority needed to pass legislation and restored a strong prime ministerial office.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The Cour constitutionnelle rules on constitutionality and electoral disputes; the Cour suprême heads the ordinary courts.
- Deadline — Presidential term under the 2018 text: seven years, renewable once
- Deadline — Constitutional review: referred to the Cour constitutionnelle
Governing law
- Constitution de la République du Burundi2018
- Accord d'Arusha pour la paix et la réconciliation au Burundi2000
- Loi organique on the Cour constitutionnelle
In practice
Burundian constitutional law cannot be described without the Arusha Agreement: the ethnic quotas in parliament, government and the army were the settlement that ended the civil war, and the 2015 crisis arose precisely over whether the Agreement's two-term limit permitted a third presidential candidacy. The 2018 constitution preserved the quotas while weakening several other Arusha constraints.