Details

Algeria – annual report 2022

Published: September 4, 2023
Event to promote the climate of investment and investment protection in Algeria.
Event to promote the climate of investment and investment protection in Algeria.

Strategic Framework

Legal Policy Starting Point

Early parliamentary elections in 2021 renewed the mandate for the ruling party in Algeria. Protests by the opposition and civil society have since declined.

As an exporter of natural gas to various countries in the European Union, the country’s geostrategic significance has grown due to the Russian war on Ukraine. Nonetheless, the Algerian economy remains highly dependent on trends in the natural gas market and the rising inflation rate places a growing burden on Algeria’s population.

Political relations between Algeria and neighbouring Morocco remain tense due to the Western Sahara conflict.

Overall Concept

In place since 2020, Algeria’s rule of law action plan focuses on strengthening the independence of the judiciary, increasing efficiency, policy to combat corruption and creating equal and fair access to the legal system and the judiciary for all citizens as well as on modernising the judicial system. IRZ supports the Algerian judiciary to achieve these priorities. The Ministry of Justice, the penitentiary authority, the Higher School for the Judiciary, the Council of State (Conseil d’État) and the Bar Association are the most important partner institutions for IRZ.

Cooperation so far has concentrated on commercial law with a thematic focus on the protection of investments in Algeria. Digitisation of the ­judiciary was the principal aspect in the area of the administration of justice. Moreover, IRZ also cooperated with its partner institutions to implement projects regarding criminal and penitentiary law, particularly the reform of the Algerian penitentiary system. The main concern in this area is to ensure the sustainable application of the manual which was drafted as part of a project funded by the German Federal Foreign Office from 2017 to 2019.

Focus of Activity in 2022

Civil and Commercial Law

  • Conference on “Investment climate and investment protection in Algeria” with the Ministry of Justice and the Algerian Investment Protection Agency

Administration of Justice

  • Regional online conference “Digitisation of the judiciary, electronic legal transactions and data protection” with the participation from the Ministries of Justice in Algeria and Morocco

Outlook

Cooperation between IRZ and the Algerian judiciary will continue to focus on efforts which were identified in the government’s plan of action. The cooperation partners aim to expand their joint work in the area of commercial law and to reinforce their focus on the main topics of criminal and penitentiary law, as well as on international judicial cooperation. Moreover, IRZ will continue its consultations on the efficiency of the judiciary, in particular with regard to shortening the length of trials, as well as on modernisation and digitisation in the administration of justice.

Please find the Annual Report 2022 here: Media centre – Annual reports.