Rights
A constitution ratified in 1997 that was never brought into force
The Constitutional Assembly ratified a constitution in 1997. It was never implemented, no national elections have been held, and the National Assembly has not convened since 2002; the state operates by proclamation and decree.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Unitary. Executive authority is exercised by the President; there is no sitting legislature and no constitutional court.
Governing law
- Constitution of Eritrea 1997 — ratified, never implemented
- Proclamation 37/1993 establishing the transitional government
- Proclamations 165-168/2015 — the new civil, penal and procedure codes
In practice
This is the starkest case on the continent of a text existing without an order behind it. The 1997 constitution provides for an elected National Assembly, an independent judiciary and a bill of rights; none of it was implemented. The National Assembly last met in 2002, no national election has ever been held, and a constitutional drafting process announced subsequently produced nothing. Governance runs through presidential proclamations and decrees, and a Special Court operating outside the ordinary judiciary hears cases without appeal and has been used against officials and dissidents. Indefinite national service, formally 18 months under Proclamation 82/1995, has in practice been extended indefinitely and is the subject of a UN Commission of Inquiry finding of crimes against humanity. Every entry for Eritrea is marked research because the published texts do not describe how the state actually operates.