Rights
The 2023 constitution, replacing the 2016 post-conflict text
The 2016 constitution restored constitutional order after the 2013 Séléka conflict and the transitional period. It was replaced by a new constitution approved by referendum in July 2023, which extended the presidential term to seven years and removed the two-term limit.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The Cour constitutionnelle rules on constitutionality; the Cour de cassation heads the ordinary courts.
- Deadline — Presidential term under the 2023 text: seven years
- Deadline — Election petition: filed with the Cour constitutionnelle
Governing law
- Constitution de la République centrafricaineapproved by referendum, July 2023
- Constitution of 2016superseded
- Loi organique on the Cour constitutionnelle
In practice
CAR is one of the few states where a hybrid internationalised criminal court operates alongside the domestic constitutional order: the Special Criminal Court, created in 2015 with international judges and prosecutors, tries grave crimes committed since 2003, and the Constitutional Court's 2023 jurisprudence on the referendum was itself contested.