Constitutional Review in Algeria Following the 2016 Reform: With Particular Reference to the “Exception of Unconstitutionality”

Abstract

The constitutional reform adopted in Algeria in February 2016 has introduced – inter alia – major innovations in the field of constitutional review. The most important novelty concerns a procedural gateway to the Constitutional Council, namely the “exception of unconstitutionality”, which vests the ordinary courts (and in particular the Supreme Court and the Council of State) with the power to challenge the constitutionality of legislative acts before the Constitutional Council. This chapter aims to set out some preliminary remarks on this new procedural gateway, discussing its major characteristics, as well as its main strengths and weaknesses. It will also show that Algerian lawmakers have relied considerably on the system of concrete constitutional review introduced in France in 2008, namely the question prioritaire de constitutionnalité . In order to better understand the relevance and scope of the exception of unconstitutionality mechanism, this chapter also examines the origins, developments and weaknesses of constitutional review in Algeria, then going on to analyze the most important novelties introduced by the 2016 reform in the field of constitutional review.