Niger 2010

The State of Niger is an independent and sovereign Republic.

All threat to the Republican form of the State and to the democratic institutions is a crime of high treason punished as such by the law.

The capital of the Republic of Niger is Niamey.

The national emblem is the tricolored flag composed of three (3) horizontal, rectangular and equal bands whose colors are disposed from top to bottom in the following order: orange, white and green. The median white band has in its middle a disk of orange color.

The hymn of the Republic is La Nigérienne [the Nigerien].

The motto of the Republic is Fraternité, Travail, Progrés [Fraternity, Work, Progress].

The seal of the State, with a diameter of forty millimetres, is composed of a shield bearing a sun accosted to dexter by a lance in pale charged with two Tuareg spades saltire, and to sinister by three ears of millet, one in pale and two placed saltire, accompanied at the point by a head of a zebu. Highlighted, are placed the following inscriptions:

• in the superior part: République du Niger [Republic of Niger];

• in the inferior part: Fraternité, Travail, Progrés [Fraternity, Work, Progress].

The Arms of the Republic are composed of a shield of sinople, with a sun with rays of gold, accosted to dexter by a lance in pale charged with two Tuareg spades saltire, and to sinister of three millet ears, one in pale and two placed saltire, accompanied at the point by a head of a zebu, all gold.

This shield is superimposed on a trophy formed of four flags of the Republic of Niger. The inscription République du Niger [Republic of Niger] is placed below.

The attributes of the Republic, such as defined in the first Article, are reserved for the use of the public powers.

All illegal use and all profanation of these attributes are punished by the law.

The Republic of Niger is a unitary State. It is one and indivisible, democratic and social.

Its fundamental principles are:

• the government of the people by the people and for the people;

• the separation of the State and of religion;

• social justice;

• national solidarity.

National sovereignty belongs to the People.

No fraction of the People, no community, no corporation, no political party or association, no trade-union organization and no individual may arrogate its exercise.

In the exercise of the power of the State, personal power, regionalism, ethnocentrism, discrimination, nepotism, sexism, the clan spirit, the feudal spirit, slavery in all its forms, illicit enrichment, favoritism, corruption, racketeering and the influence-trafficking are punished by the law.

All communities composing the Nigerien Nation enjoy the freedom to use their languages, respecting those of others.

These languages have, in all equality, the status of national languages.

The State sees to the promotion and to the development of the national languages.

The law establishes the modalities of their promotion and of their development.

The official language is French.

The People exercise their sovereignty through their elected representatives and by way of referendum. The conditions of recourse to the referendum are determined by the law.

An Independent National Electoral Commission [Comission électoral nationale Indépendante (CENI)] is charged with the organization, development and supervision of the voting operations. It proclaims the provisional results.

An organic law determines the modalities of the organization and of the functioning of this Commission.

The Constitutional Court sees to the regularity of the voting operations and proclaims the definitive results.

Suffrage is direct or indirect. It is universal, free, equal and secret.

Nigeriens of the two (2) sexes, aged eighteen (18) years on the day of the ballot or the emancipated minors, enjoying their civil and political rights are voters under the conditions determined by the law.

The Republic of Niger is a State of Law.

It assures to all equality before the law without distinction of sex, or of social, racial, ethnic or religious origin.

It respects and protects all beliefs. No religion, no belief can arrogate the political power or interfere in the affairs of State.

All particularist propaganda of a regionalist, racial or ethnic character, all manifestation of racial, social, sexist, ethnic, political or religious discrimination, are punished by the law.

Under the framework of the freedom of association recognized and guaranteed by this Constitution, the political parties, groups of political parties, the trade-unions, the non-governmental organizations and other associations or groups of associations are formed and exercise their activities freely, within respect for the laws and regulations in force.

The political parties and the groups of political parties concur in the expression of the suffrage. The same prerogatives are recognized to all Nigerien citizens enjoying their civil and political rights and meeting the conditions of eligibility provided by the law.

The political parties with an ethnic, regionalist or religious character are prohibited. No party may be knowingly created with the purpose of promoting an ethnic group, a region or a religion, under penalty of the sanctions provided by the law.

All Nigeriens are born and remain free and equal in rights and in duties. However, the access of certain categories of citizens to electoral mandates, to elective functions and to public employments may be favored by particular measures specified by the law.

The human person is sacred. The State has the absolute obligation to respect it and to protect it.

Each one has the right to life, to health, to physical and moral integrity, to a healthy and sufficient food supply, to potable water, to education and instruction in the conditions specified by the law.

The State assures to each one the satisfaction of the essential needs and services as well as a full development.

Each one has the right to freedom and to security within the conditions defined by the law.

Every person has the right to enjoy the best state of physical and moral health.

The State sees to the creation of the proper conditions to assure to all, medical services and medical assistance in the case of illness.

The law determines the modalities for implementing this provision.

No one shall be submitted to torture, to slavery or to cruel, inhuman or degrading abuse or treatments.

Any individual, any agent of the State, who is found guilty of acts of torture or of cruel, inhuman or degrading abuse or treatments in the exercise of or on the occasion of the exercise of their functions, either on his own initiative or under instructions, will be punished according to the law.

No one is required to execute a manifestly illegal order.

The law determines the order manifestly illegal.

No citizen may be forced into exile or be subject to deportation.

Enforced exile or deportation of a citizen is considered as a crime against the Nation and punished according to the law.

Each one has the right to the free development of his personality in its material, intellectual, cultural, artistic and religious dimensions, provided that he does not violate the rights of others, or infringe the constitutional order, the law or morality.

No one may be arrested or charged except by virtue of a law that entered into force prior to the acts alleged against him.

The laws and regulations only have retrospective effect so far as they concern the rights and advantages that they may confer to the citizen.

Any person accused of a delinquent act is presumed innocent until their culpability has been legally established in the course of a public process during which all the guarantees necessary for their free defense have been assured to them.

No one shall be condemned for actions or omissions which, when they were committed, did not constitute an infraction according to the national law. In the same way, more severe penalties than those applicable at the moment the infraction was committed may not be inflicted.

Marriage and family constitute the natural and moral base of the human community. They are placed under the protection of the State.

The State and public collectivities have the duty to see to the physical, mental and moral health of the family, particularly of the mother and of the child.

The State sees to the elimination of all forms of discrimination concerning women, young girls and handicapped persons. The public policies in all the domains assure their full development and their participation in the national development.

The State takes, among others, measures to combat the violence done to women and children in public and private life.

It assures to them an equitable representation within the public institutions through the national policy concerning gender and the respect for the quotas.

Parents have the right and duty to raise, educate and protect their children. Descendants have the right and duty to assist and help the ascendants. Both are supported in this task by the State and the other public collectivities.

The State and the other public collectivities, through their public policies and their actions, see to the promotion and to the access to a quality, gratuitous and public education.

Youth is protected by the State and the other public collectivities against exploitation and abandonment.

The State sees to the material and intellectual development of youth.

It sees to the promotion of training and of employment of young people as well as to their vocational integration.

The State sees to the elderly through a policy of social protection.

The law establishes the conditions and modalities of this protection.

The State sees to the equality of opportunities chances for handicapped persons with a view to their promotion and/or their social reintegration.

The domicile is inviolable. Search, arrest or questioning [interpellation] may only be ordered under the conditions and forms specified by the law.

Any person has a right to property. No one may be deprived of their property except for cause of public utility and subject to a fair and prior indemnification.

The secrecy of correspondence and of communications is inviolable. It may only be derogated under the conditions and forms specified by the law, under penalty of sanctions.

Any person has the right to freedom of thought, of opinion, of expression, of conscience, of religion and of worship.

The State guarantees the free exercise of worship and the expression of beliefs.

These rights are exercised with respect for public order, for social peace and for national unity.

Any person has the right to be informed and to have access to the information held by the public services within the conditions determined by the law.

The State recognizes and guarantees the freedom of movement, the freedoms of association, assembly, procession and manifestation within the conditions defined by the law.

The State recognizes to all citizens the right to work and strives to create the conditions that make the enjoyment of this right effective, and that guarantee to the worker just compensation for his services or for his production.

No one may be the victim of discrimination within the framework of his work.

The State recognizes and guarantees the syndical right and the right to strike that are exercised within the conditions specified by the laws and regulations in force.

Any person has the right to a healthy environment. The State has the obligation to protect the environment in the interest of present and future generations.

Each one is required to contribute to the safeguarding and to the improvement of the environment in which he lives.

The acquisition, the storage, the handling and the disposal of toxic wastes or pollutants originating from factories and other industrial or handwork sites, installed on the national territory, are regulated by the law.

The transit, importation, storage, landfill, and dumping on the national territory of foreign pollutants or toxic wastes, as well as any agreement relating to it constitute a crime against the Nation, punished by the law.

The State sees to the evaluation and control of the impacts of any project and program of development on the environment.

The State and the other public collectivities see to the fight against desertification.

The national and international enterprises have the obligation to respect the legislation in force in environmental matters. They are required to protect human health and to contribute to the safeguarding of it as well as to the improvement of the environment.

The defense of the Nation and of the territorial integrity of the Republic is a sacred duty for each Nigerien citizen.

Military service is obligatory. The conditions of its accomplishment are determined by the law.

All Nigerien citizens, civil or military, have the absolute obligation to respect, in all circumstances, the Constitution and the juridical order of the Republic, under penalty of the sanctions specified by the law.

All citizens have the duty to work selflessly for the common good, to fulfill their civic and professional obligations and to make their tax contributions.

The Public assets are sacred and inviolable. Every person must respect them and protect them scrupulously. Any act of sabotage, of vandalism, of corruption, of diversion, of squandering, of money laundering or of illicit enrichment is punished by the law.

The State must protect, abroad, the rights and legitimate interests of the Nigerien citizens.

Nationals of other countries benefit in the territory of the Republic of Niger from the same rights and freedoms as Nigerien nationals within the conditions determined by the law.

The State has the duty to assure the translation and diffusion in national languages of the Constitution, as well as of the texts relative to human rights and to the fundamental freedoms.

It guarantees the teaching of the Constitution, of human rights and of civic education at all levels of training.

A National Commission sees to the promotion and to the effectiveness of the rights and of the freedoms consecrated above.

The National Commission for Human Rights is an independent administrative authority.

The law determines the composition, the organization, the attributions and the functioning of this Commission, in accordance with the international principles in force.

It presents, before the National Assembly, an annual report on human rights.

The rights and freedoms mentioned above are exercised within respect for the laws and regulations in force.

The legislative power is exercised by a unique chamber denominated the National Assembly whose members bear the title of Deputies.

The Deputies are elected by universal, free, direct, equal and secret suffrage.

Nigeriens of the two (2) sexes, at least twenty-one (21) years old and enjoying their civil and political rights are eligible to the National Assembly.

The lists of the political parties, of the groups of parties as well as those of the independent candidates must obligatorily include, at least, 75% of their candidates holding, at least, the Brevet d'Etudes du Premier Cycle (BEPC), [Certificate of Studies of the First Cycle] or its equivalent and 25%, at most, of their candidates not fulfilling this condition.

Within this quota, the special circumscriptions are integrated within the regions to which they belong.

An organic law establishes the number of members of the National Assembly, the indemnity of the Deputies and the benefits, their conditions of eligibility, the regime of ineligibilities and of incompatibilities, the modality of the ballot as well as the conditions under which it proceeds to organize new elections in case of vacancy of the seat of a Deputy.

The duration of a legislature is of five (5) years. The general elections for the renewal of the National Assembly take place twenty (20) days at least and sixty (60) days at most prior to the end of the current legislature.

The Constitutional Court decides on the eligibility of the candidates.

It equally decides on the validity of the election of the Deputies.

Each Deputy is the representative of the Nation.

Any imperative mandate is null.

The right to vote of the Deputies is personal. However, the delegation of the vote is permitted when a Deputy is absent for cause of illness, for the execution of a mandate or a mission entrusted to him by the National Assembly or the Government or to fulfill his military obligations. No one may receive for one ballot more than one delegation of the vote.

During the legislature, any Deputy who resigns from his party loses his seat and is replaced by his substitute. The Deputy who is excluded from his party sits as an independent within the National Assembly. He may not, in any case, affiliate himself to another parliamentary group in the course of the legislature.

The members of the National Assembly enjoy parliamentary immunity.

No Deputy shall be prosecuted, investigated, arrested, detained or judged for the opinions or the votes emitted by him in the exercise of his functions.

Except in the case of flagrante delicto, no Deputy may, during the duration of the sessions, be prosecuted or arrested in a correctional or criminal matter except with the authorization of the National Assembly.

No Deputy may, out of session, be arrested except with the authorization of the Bureau of the National Assembly, except in the case of flagrante delicto, of authorized prosecutions or of definitive convictions.

The National Assembly is presided over by a President assisted by a Bureau. The composition of the Bureau must reflect the political configuration of the National Assembly.

The President is elected for the duration of the legislature and the other members of the Bureau are elected every year, according to the Internal Regulations of the National Assembly.

Before entering into his functions, the President of the National Assembly takes an oath on the Holy Book of his confession before the Constitutional Court, in these terms:

"Before God and before the sovereign Nigerien People, We ..., President of the National Assembly solemnly swear on the Holy Book

• to respect and to have respected the Constitution that the People have freely given to themselves;

• to loyally fulfill the high functions with which we have been invested;

• never to betray or misrepresent the aspirations of the People

• to respect and to defend the republican form of the State;

• to respect and to defend the rights and freedoms of the citizens;

• not to take or to be guaranty for any measures degrading the human dignity;

• to respect and to have respected the principles of the separation of the powers;

• to respect and to have respected the Internal Regulations of the National Assembly;

• to work tirelessly for the happiness of the People;

• to conduct ourselves everywhere as faithful and loyal servant of the People;

In the case of perjury, may we suffer the rigors of the law.

May God help us."

In the case of a crisis of confidence between the President of the National Assembly and the Deputies, he may be dismissed. The initiative for the dismissal is signed by half of the members composing the National Assembly. The dismissal is adopted by a majority of two-thirds (2/3) of the Deputies.

When he assures the interim of the President of the Republic within the conditions specified in the Article 53 of this Constitution, the President of the National Assembly is replaced in his functions according to the Internal Regulations of the National Assembly.

In the case of vacancy of the Presidency of the National Assembly by death, resignation or any other cause, the Assembly elects a new President within the fifteen (15) days that follow the vacancy, if it is in session; in the contrary case, it meets of plain right within the conditions established by the Internal Regulations.

The National Assembly votes the law and consents to taxes.

It controls the action of the Government.

Each year, the National Assembly meets of plain right in two ordinary sessions on the convocation of its President.

The first session opens the first week of the month of March and may not exceed ninety (90) days.

The second session, called the budgetary session, opens the first week of the month of October and may not exceed sixty (60) days.

The National Assembly is convoked in extraordinary session by its President on a determined agenda, at the demand of the Prime Minister or by two-fifths (2/5) of the Deputies.

The extraordinary sessions, except in the cases where they take place of plain right, are opened and closed by decree of the President of the Republic. The closure comes as soon as the agenda is exhausted.

Their duration may not exceed fifteen (15) days.

The sittings of the National Assembly are public.

A complete record of the debates is published in the Journal Officiel.

At the request of the Prime Minister or of one-third (1/3) of the Deputies, the National Assembly may sit in closed session.

The work of the National Assembly takes place following the Internal Regulations that it adopts in accordance with the Constitution.

The Internal Regulations determine notably:

• the composition, and the rules of functioning of the Bureau as well as the powers and prerogatives of its President;

• the procedure of dismissal of the President of the National Assembly;

• the creation of commissions of inquiry and of parliamentary control as well as of missions for information within the framework of the control of the governmental action or of any matter of national interest;

• the number, the mode of appointment, the composition, the role and the competence of the permanent commissions as well as those that are special and temporary;

• the creation of parliamentary commissions of inquiry within the framework of the control of the governmental action or of any matter of national interest;

• the organization of the administrative services directed by a secretary-general placed under the authority of the President of the National Assembly;

• the disciplinary regime of the Deputies during the sittings of the National Assembly

• the modes of the ballot governing the elections within the National Assembly, with the exclusion of those expressly specified by this Constitution;

• the conditions of exercise of the right of interpellation, the applicable rules in the matter of written and oral questions, the current issues, as well as the measures to be taken by the National Assembly concerning the Prime Minister or any member of the Government refusing to answer an interpellation or a request of information from the National Assembly;

• the procedure for initiating the responsibility of the Government.

The National Assembly informs the President of the Republic and the Government of the agenda of its sessions, of its sittings, as well as that the agenda of its commissions.

The President of the Republic can, at any time, communicate with the National Assembly, either directly or through messages that he has read by the President of the National Assembly.

These messages do not give rise to any debate.

The members of the Government have access to the plenary and to the commissions of the National Assembly. They are heard either at the demand of these, or at their own demand.

They may be assisted by their collaborators.

The members of the National Assembly, either individually or collectively, may interpellate the Prime Minister or any other member of the Government by means of a petition. These may not remove themselves from this obligation.

The members of the National Assembly may equally obtain, by means of written or oral questions, all information about the activities or the acts of administration of the Government. The interested Ministers are obligated to provide them.

The law establishes the rules concerning:

• citizenship, the civil rights and the fundamental guarantees for the exercise of public freedoms;

• the constraints imposed in the interest of the national defense, of the public security and assistance to the citizens, on their persons and on their assets.

• the nationality, the State and the capacity of the persons, the matrimonial regimes, inheritance and gifts;

• the procedure according to which customs will be declared and brought into harmony with the fundamental principles of the Constitution;

• the determination of crimes and misdemeanors as well as of the penalties applicable to them, the penal procedure and amnesty;

• the organization of the jurisdictions of all orders and the procedure to be followed before these jurisdictions, the creations of new orders of jurisdiction, the statute of the magistrates, of the ministerial officers and of the auxiliaries of justice;

• the base, the rate and the modalities for recovering the taxes of any nature;

• the regime of emission of the currency;

• the electoral regime of the President of the Republic, of the members of the National Assembly and of the local assemblies;

• the creation of categories of public establishments;

• the nationalization of enterprises and the transfers of property of enterprises from the public sector to the private sector;

• research, the exploration and the exploitation of the oil and gas resources, and the mineral resources, both natural and of energy;

• the acquisition, the storage, the handling, the transportation, and the transit of radioactive substances and the disposal of radioactive waste;

• the general statute of the Public Function;

• the autonomous status;

• the regime of treatments, indemnities and other advantages granted to the national deputies;

• the regime of treatments, indemnities and other advantages granted to the responsible persons of the institutions of the Republic;

• the statute of the Deputies

• the statute of the military personnel and of the National Gendarmerie, of the Forces of Security and Similar Forces;

• the status of the traditional leadership;

• the general organization of the Administration;

• the territorial organization, the creation and the modification of the administrative circumscriptions as well as the electoral divisions;

• the creation, the status, and the functioning of the independent administrative authorities;

• the State of Emergency and the State of Siege;

• communication;

• the Regime of the associations;

• the Charter of the political parties;

• the Statute of the Opposition.

The Law determines the fundamental principles:

• of the organization of the national defense;

• of the free administration of the territorial collectivities, of their competences and of their resources;

• of the protection of the freedom of the press and of the access to public information and to administrative documents;

• of education, of technology and of scientific research;

• of health and of public hygiene;

• of the policy of the population;

• of the housing policy;

• of the protection of the family;

• of the protection of consumers;

• of the protection of the elderly persons and of the integration of handicapped persons;

• of the protection of the environment and of the conservation of the natural resources;

• of the protection, of the conservation and of the organization of the airspace;

• of the protection of the cultural patrimony;

• of the organization of the civil protection;

• of the regime of property, of real rights and of civil and commercial obligations;

• of the right to work, of the social security, of the syndical right and of the right to strike;

• of the alienation and of the administration of the domain of the State;

• of insurance and of savings;

• of the regime of transport, of the posts and of telecommunications;

• of the public accounting regime;

• of the penitentiary regime;

• of education;

• of the Rural Code;

• of the Water and Food Security Code;

• of the Construction and Housing Code;

• of the Code of the leases to rent.

The law of finance of the year specifies and authorizes, for each civil year, all of the resources and the charges of the State.

The laws of finance called corrective laws may, in the course of the year, modify the provisions of the law of finance of the year.

The law of regulation declares the financial results of each civil year and approves the differences between the results and the projections of the law of finance of the year.

The program laws establish the objectives of the economical and social action of the State.

The treatments, indemnities and/or diverse benefits granted to the President of the Republic, to the Prime Minister, to the Ministers, to the Deputies and to the responsible persons of the other institutions, are determined by an organic law.

They must take into account the financial situation of the State and the general level of revenues of the Nigeriens.

The matters other than those in the domain of the law have a regulatory character.

The texts of legislative form intervening, in these matters, before the entry into force of this Constitution may be modified by decree issued after the opinion of the Constitutional Court.

The declaration of war is authorized by the National Assembly.

When the National Assembly is dissolved and the country is a victim of external aggression, the declaration of war is made by the President of the Republic in the Council of Ministers.

The sending of troops abroad is authorized by the National Assembly.

The State of Siege is decreed in the Council of Ministers after the opinion of the Bureau of the National Assembly. The National Assembly meets of plain right if it is not in session.

The extension of the State of Siege over fifteen (15) days may not be authorized except by the National Assembly.

The National Assembly may not be dissolved during the State of Siege.

The Government may, for the execution of its program, request of the National Assembly the authorization to take by ordinance(s) for a limited time period, the measures that are normally of the domain of the law.

This authorization takes the form of an enabling law.

The ordinances are taken in the Council of Ministers after the opinion of the Constitutional Court. They enter into force on their publication but become lapsed if the bill of law of ratification is not deposited before the National Assembly before the date established by the enabling law.

At the expiration of the time period mentioned in the first paragraph of this Article, the ordinances may only be modified in their provisions that are of the domain of the law.

The responsibility of the Government may be engaged before the National Assembly either by the vote of a motion of censure, or by a vote of no confidence.

The National Assembly engages the responsibility of the Government by the vote of a motion of censure. Such a motion is not receivable unless it is signed by one-fifth (1/5), at least, of the Deputies. The vote may only take place forty-eight (48) hours after its presentation. Only the votes favorable to the motion of censure are counted which may only be adopted by the absolute majority of the Deputies. If the motion is rejected, its signatories may not propose a new one during the course of the same session.

The Prime Minister can, after deliberation of the Council of Ministers, engage the responsibility of the Government before the National Assembly by posing the question of confidence on the vote of a text. The text is considered adopted if it receives the absolute majority of the votes.

When the National Assembly adopts a motion of censure, disapproves of the program or of a declaration of general policy of the Government or denies to it its confidence on the occasion of the vote of a text, the Prime Minister remits to the President of the Republic the resignation of the Government.

The Government has the initiative of the laws concurrently with the members of the National Assembly.

The Deputies and the Government have the right of amendment and that, regardless of the origin of the text.

The proposals, bills and amendments that are not of the domain of law, and that infringe good morals are irreceivable. The irreceivability is pronounced by the President of the National Assembly.

In the case of dispute, the Constitutional Court, referred to the matter by the Prime Minister, by the President of the National Assembly or by one-tenth (1/10) of the members of the National Assembly, decides within a time period of eight (8) days.

The bills and the amendments deposited by the Deputies are not receivable when their adoption would have as consequence, either a diminution of the public resources, or the creation or the aggravation of a public charge, unless it is accompanied by a proposal of augmentation of receipts or of equivalent economies.

The discussion of the bills of law focuses on the text presented by the competent commission of the National Assembly.

At the demand of the Government, the commission must bring to the cognizance of the National Assembly the points on which there is disagreement with the Government.

The National Assembly votes the bill of the law of finance within the conditions determined by the law.

The National Assembly is referred to the matter of the bill of the law of finance from the opening of the budgetary session; the bill of the law of finance must specify the receipts necessary for the complete coverage of the expenses.

The National Assembly votes the budget in equilibrium.

If the National Assembly has not decided within sixty (60) days of the presentation of the bill, the provisions of this bill can be put into force by ordinance.

The government refers the matter, for ratification, to the National Assembly convoked in extraordinary session, within a time period of fifteen (15) days.

If the National Assembly has not voted the budget at the end of this extraordinary session, the budget is definitively established by ordinance.

If the bill of the law of finance could not be presented in a timely fashion to be promulgated before the beginning of the fiscal year, the Prime Minister demands of urgency of the National Assembly the authorization to continue to receive the taxes and to continue with expenditures, the budget of the preceding year by provisional twelfths.

The National Assembly governs the accounts of the Nation following the modalities specified by the law of finance.

The law of regulation must be deposited with the Bureau of the National Assembly at the budgetary session of the year following that of the execution of the budget to be debated at the next parliamentary session and adopted, at the latest, the thirty-first (31) of December of the second year that follows the execution of the budget.

The National Assembly may demand of the Court of Accounts to lead all inquests and studies related to the execution of the public receipts and expenses.

The Superior Council of Communication is an independent administrative authority.

The Council has as its mission to assure and guarantee the freedom and the independence of the means of the audiovisual communication, from the written and electronic press within the respect for the law.

As such, it sees to:

• the respect for the mission of public service conferred on the medias of the State;

• the respect for ethics in matters of information and communication:

• the respect for the equitable and effective access of the citizens, the associations and the political parties to the public means of information and communication;

• the respect for the regulations in force in communication and exploitation;

• the respect for the statutes of the professionals of communication;

• the respect for the plurality of opinions in the public and private media;

• the promotion and to the development of the technology of information and of communication;

• the training of the personnel, to their professionalization and to the reinforcement of their capacities;

• the control of the content and modalities of the programming of the emissions of publicity diffused by the public, private, communitarian and associative networks of radio and television;

• the protection of childhood and adolescence in the programming of the emissions diffused by the public and private companies of audiovisual communication;

• the promotion of sport and Nigerien culture in the programming of the emissions diffused by the public and private companies of audiovisual communication.

Audiovisual, written, and electronic communication as well as printing and diffusion are free, subject to the respect for the public order, of freedom and of the dignity of the citizens.

The medias of the State are public services to which access is guaranteed, in an equitable and effective manner to all in the conditions specified by the law.

They have the obligation to favor the democratic debate and to promote the fundamental human rights, the languages and the national sports and cultural products, the national unity, tolerance and solidarity, peace and security, between the different communities, as well as the fight against all forms of discrimination.

The statute of the medias of the State is established by a law that guarantees the objectivity, the impartiality and the pluralism of opinions in the treatment and diffusion of the information.

The private medias are medias of public utility. As such, they are submitted to the same obligations as the medias of the State as specified in paragraph 3 of this Article.

The Superior Council of Communication is directed by a bureau. The Councilors elect among themselves one (1) President, one (1) Vice President and two (2) reporters. Only the bureau is permanent.

The members of the Superior Council of Communication must have proven competence, notably in the domain of communication, of public administration, of science, of law, of culture and of the arts.

They must have a professional experience of at least ten (10) years and be aged thirty-five (35) years at least.

The Superior Council of Communication is composed of fifteen (15) members as it follows:

• one (1) notable person proposed by the President of the Republic;

• one (1) notable person proposed by the President of the National Assembly;

• one (1) notable person proposed by the Prime Minister;

• three (3) representatives elected by the socio-professional organizations of the medias of the private sector including, at least, one woman;

• three (3) representatives elected by the trade-union organizations of workers of the medias of the public sector including a journalist, a producer and a technician with at least one woman;

• one (1) representative elected by the trade-union organizations of workers of the telecommunications sector;

• one (1) representative elected by the associations for the defense of the rights of man and promotion of democracy;

• one (1) representative elected by the collective of the women organizations;

• one (1) representative elected by the agencies and bureaus of communication and publicity;

• one (1) representative elected by the cultural creators;

• one (1) representative elected by the printers and publishers.

The duration of the mandate of the members of the Supreme Council of Communication is five (5) year non-renewable. In case of death, resignation or exclusion of a member, he is replaced in the same conditions for the rest of the mandate.

An organic law specifies the organization, the attributions, and the functioning of the Superior Council of Communication.

The territorial administration is based on the principles of decentralization and deconcentration.

The territorial collectivities are created by an organic law. They administered themselves freely by elected councils.

The law determines the fundamental principles of the freedom of administration of the territorial collectivities, their competences and their resources.

The State sees to the harmonious development of all the territorial collectivities on the basis of national solidarity, social justice, regional potentialities and interregional equilibrium.

The representative of the State sees to the respect for the national interests.

The Ordinary Courts of First Instance, in special form, decide on the eligibility of the candidates, control the regularity, the transparency and the sincerity of the local elections. They proclaim the results.

The recourses against the decisions in electoral matters of the Ordinary Courts of First Instance are introduced before the Council of the State that decides in last resort.

The State recognizes the traditional leadership as the depositary of customary authority. As such, it participates in the administration of the territory of the Republic in the conditions determined by the law.

The traditional leadership is held to a strict obligation of neutrality and reserve. It is protected against any abuse of power tending to divert it from the role conferred on it by the law.

The President of the Republic negotiates and ratifies the international treaties and agreements.

The treaties of defense and peace, the treaties and agreements relative to the international organizations, those which modify the internal laws of the State and those which involve a financial engagement from the State, may only be ratified following a law authorizing their ratification.

If the Constitutional Court referred to the matter by the President of the Republic, by the president of the National Assembly, by the Prime Minister or by one-tenth (1/10) of the Deputies, has declared that an international agreement contains a clause contrary to the Constitution, the authorization to ratify it can only intervene after revision of the Constitution.

The treaties or agreements regularly ratified have, from their publication, an authority superior to that of the laws, subject to, for each agreement or treaty of its application by the other party.

The Republic of Niger may conclude with any African State agreements of association or of community involving partial or total abandonment of sovereignty in order to achieve African Unity.

The Republic of Niger may conclude agreements of cooperation and of association with other States on the basis of reciprocal rights and advantages.

It accepts, to create with these States, intergovernmental organs of common administration, of coordination and of free cooperation.

These organs may have as their objective, notably:

• the harmonization of the economical, financial and monetary policy;

• the establishment of unions with a view to economic integration by the promotion of production and of exchanges;

• the creation of funds of solidarity;

• the harmonization of the plans of development;

• the harmonization of the foreign policy;

• cooperation in judicial matters;

• cooperation in defense matters;

• cooperation in security matters;

• cooperation in health matters;

• cooperation in cultural, scientific and technical matters;

• the coordination of transports, communications and telecommunications;

• cooperation in the matters of the fight against natural calamities;

• to enhance natural resources;

• the preservation of the environment;

• cooperation in the matters of the administration of the hydraulic resources.

The initiative of the revision of the Constitution belongs jointly to the President of the Republic and to the members of the National Assembly.

To be taken into consideration, the bill or the proposal of revision must be voted by a majority of three-fourths (3/4) of the members composing the National Assembly.

If the bill or the proposal in question was approved by a majority of four-fifths (4/5) of the members of the National Assembly, the revision is adopted. In default, the bill or the proposal is submitted to referendum unless there is abandonment of the said bill or proposal.

No procedure of revision may be engaged or followed when the integrity of the territory is infringed.

The republican form of the State, the multiparty system, the principle of the separation of State and religion and the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 47 and of Article 185 of this Constitution may not be made the object of any revision.

No procedure of revision of this Article is receivable.

The Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy [Conseil Supréme pour la Restauration de la Démocratie (CSRD)], the Government and the other organs of the Transition will continue to exercise their functions until the official installation of the new authorities.

While waiting for the Constitutional Court to be put in place, its attributions are exercised by the Constitutional Council of Transition.

While waiting for the Court of Cassation and for the Council of the State to be put in place, the State Court remains competent for the matters concerning the competence vested respectively in these jurisdictions.

The matters pending before the judicial chamber and the administrative chamber and concerning which they have not decided, will be transmitted respectively to the Court of Cassation and to the Council of State, from the installation of these jurisdictions.

While waiting for the High Court of Justice to be put in place, the matters pending before the former will be transferred to the Court of the State.

The President of the Republic elected as a result of the period of Transition will take an oath before the Constitutional Council of Transition.

The ordinance No. 2010-001 of the 22 of February of 2010 concerning the organization of the public powers during the period of Transition and its modifying texts remain in force until the entrance into their functions of the new authorities.

The ordinance No. 2010-002 of the II of March of 2010 relative to the neutrality of the members of the Government, of the secretaries general of the ministers and of certain units of the territorial administration during the period of Transition remains in force until the entrance into their functions of the new authorities.

The ordinance No. 2010-003 dated on the 11 of March of 2010 relative to the ineligibility of the personnel of the forces of defense and security and of the members of the Government of Transition remains in force until the entrance into their functions of the new authorities.

The legislation now in force remains applicable, insofar as it does not have anything contrary to this Constitution, except express abrogation.

This Constitution will be adopted by referendum. It will enter into force from its promulgation by the President of the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy, Head of the State, within the eight (8) days following the proclamation of the definitive results of the referendum by the Constitutional Council of Transition, under reserve of the transitional provisions above.

The organic laws and the other laws of application specified by this Constitution must be adopted obligatorily within the two (2) first years of the first legislature.

An amnesty is granted to the authors, co-authors and accomplices of the coup d'Etat of eighteen (18) February 2010.

A law will be voted, to this effect, during the first (1st) session of the National Assembly.