Rights
A bicameral 2016-2020 structure abolished again in 2023
The 2016 Constitution created a Halk Maslahaty upper chamber in 2020, then a 2023 amendment abolished it and restored a unicameral Mejlis, with the former president chairing a separate national body.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Unitary state with five provinces. No independent constitutional court exists; the Mejlis interprets the Constitution.
Governing law
- Constitution of Turkmenistan1992, revised 2016, amended 2020 and 2023
- Law on the Halk Maslahaty2023
In practice
Constitutional review is a legislative function rather than a judicial one, so there is no court a citizen can petition to strike down a statute. The 2023 restructuring created a standing Halk Maslahaty as a supreme representative body chaired by the former president, sitting above the ordinary organs of state. Rights are enumerated but the state exercises comprehensive control over expression, association and movement, and the country is among the least accessible in the world for independent legal research, so this entry is stamped as research rather than reviewed.