The constitutional declaration is a mini constitution for the transitional stages

The definition of the constitutional declaration is a matter of different in constitutional jurisprudence. The jurists have left the situation in the term of its concept because of their difference in the legal value of constitutional advertisements in the first place.

In this context, the assistant professor in public law at Qatar University, Dr. Hamad Al -Hababi, explains in an interview with Al -Jazeera Net that the constitutional declaration is a mini constitution that is issued in cases where the state is going through exceptional circumstances in order to organize the temporary transitional phase, that is, the post -revolutionary or coups, and aims to lay new foundations that govern society in the transitional stage until a permanent constitution that achieves institutional stability.

The difference between the constitutional declaration and the permanent constitution

Dr. Al -Hababi explains that the constitutional declaration is considered an alternative to the permanent constitution that is issued in the stability of the state after the completion of the transitional phase.

He adds that one of the characteristics of the constitutional declaration is that it is “temporary”, given that it is a document adopted in the transitional period, which is a temporary period in its nature, and the constitutional declaration is not always supposed or a long -term alternative to the stable constitution of the state.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aby9tl38u

The reasons that drive countries to issue a constitutional declaration

According to Dr. Al -Hababi, these constitutional declarations are issued to move from the political, social and philosophical situation that was previously organizing the state to the emergence of a new system that is different in its content, form and foundations from a previous system in order to lay new foundations on society, and countries usually issue a constitutional declaration after the outbreak of a revolution or the implementation of a coup.

The most prominent historical cases that witnessed the issuance of constitutional ads

Among the prominent historical examples of the issuance of constitutional advertisements in the case of Libya in 1969 when Muammar Gaddafi led a military coup that ended the monarchy, and issued a constitutional declaration in December of the same year.

Dr. Al -Hababi explains that Article 37 of the Libyan Constitutional Declaration 1969 stipulated the validity of this declaration until the issuance of a permanent constitution, which was not achieved in the rule of Gaddafi, which lasted until 2011 when a new constitutional declaration was issued after the Libyan revolution.

It also refers to Article 18, which stipulates that “the Revolutionary Command Council is the highest authority in the Libyan Arab Republic and begins the work of supreme sovereignty and legislation and the development of the general policy of the state on behalf of the people, and in this capacity it may take all the measures it deems necessary to protect the revolution and the system based on it, and these measures are in the form of constitutional advertisements, laws, orders or decisions, and it is not permissible to appeal what the Revolutionary Command Council takes from measures before any party.”

He explains that this text allowed the founding authority to postpone the issuance of the permanent constitution, and to only consecrate successive constitutional advertisements, such as the constitutional document issued in 1977, which formed another stage of the temporary constitutional organization in Libya.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htarkvsyjt4

Can the constitutional declaration be modified?

According to Dr. Al -Hababi, the constitutional declaration may be amended by issuing another constitutional declaration through the authority of the declaration.

The basic principles included in the constitutional declaration

Dr. Al -Hababi believes that constitutional ads often include fundamental topics, such as:

• The form of the state and the system of government.
• The separation of powers.
• Determining basic rights and freedoms, such as freedom of opinion.