Rights
2001 Constitution with a Conseil constitutionnel that has enforced electoral timetables
The Constitution of 22 January 2001 establishes a semi-presidential republic with a five-year presidential term restored by referendum in 2016. The Conseil constitutionnel annulled the 2024 postponement of the presidential election, compelling the vote to proceed.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Conseil constitutionnel for constitutionality and elections; the Cour suprême heads the ordinary courts.
- Deadline — Presidential election petition: short statutory window after provisional results
- Deadline — Review of an organic law: mandatory before promulgation
Governing law
- Constitution du 22 janvier 2001
- Loi n° 2016-10 portant révision de la Constitution
- Loi organique n° 2016-23 relative au Conseil constitutionnel
In practice
Senegal is the strongest case in the region for effective constitutional adjudication. In February 2024 the Conseil constitutionnel struck down a law postponing the presidential election and the decree that had cancelled it, holding the postponement unconstitutional; the election proceeded and produced a transfer of power to the opposition. Senegal has never experienced a successful military coup.