Mauritania – Annual Report 2023

Details
Published: September 4, 2024

Strategic Framework

Legal Policy Starting Point

Mauritania is an Islamic, presidential republic with a strong concentration of political powers in the office of the President, who is also the President of the High Judicial Council and is therefore also responsible for judicial discipline, the appointment and dismissal of all judges and decisions on the scope of judicial powers.

Parliamentary and local elections were held in Mauritania in May 2023, with the “El Insaf” party once again emerging as the strongest force. A new government was also formed based on the parliamentary elections, with Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Cheikh Abdallahi Bin Boya confirmed as Minister of Justice for an additional legislative term. Presidential elections will be held in 2024, for which the incumbent President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani will run again.

The country faces various challenges, including persistent poverty, unemployment and infrastructural problems.

Mauritania has now implemented the most important African human rights conventions and the nine most important United Nations human rights conventions in domestic law, with some reservations due to Sharia law. Although human rights violations still occur, the country is making considerable efforts to incorporate these international obligations into its national legislation, policies and guidelines. This includes judicial reform, which has been gradually implemented since September 2020. The following priorities are part of the reform to make the judiciary more independent and closer to citizens: Further developing the status of the legal professions and improving their conditions, facilitating access to justice, improving the quality and efficiency of the justice system, reforming the criminal justice system and the penitentiary system, digitalizing the justice system, renovating existing and constructing new judicial buildings

Concept

Mauritania has officially been an IRZ partner state since 2023. This was preceded by a needs analysis and an initial event on the topic of “Digitalization of the judiciary between reality and perspective” with the participation of the German Federal Bar Association and the Mauritanian Bar Association in November 2022. IRZ’s current project partners are

the Mauritanian Ministry of Justice, the École nationale d'administration, du journalisme et de la magistrature (Education and Training Institution for the Judiciary) and the Mauritanian Bar Association. The focus of the cooperation lies on strengthening human rights and their consideration in national jurisdiction as well as in the area of humanizing the penal system and strengthening the rule of law in criminal law.

Focus of Activity in 2023

Focus on Constitutional Law, Human Rights and their Enforceability

  • Training course “Practical application of international human rights conventions – human rights protection at judicial level” in cooperation with the Mauritanian Ministry of Justice and the Education and Training Institution for the Judiciary (ENAJM) in Nouakchott

Civil and commercial law

  • Regional conference on “Optimizing the investment climate and promoting investment incentives and protection” in Tunis in cooperation with the German Federal Bar Association and the Ministries of Justice of Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco (hybrid event)

Focus on Criminal and Penitentiary Law

  • Training on “Alternatives to custodial sentence and pre-trial detention” in cooperation with the Mauritanian Ministry of Justice in Nouakchott

Outlook

In 2024, IRZ would also like to make a contribution to the long-term orientation of the judiciary towards rule of law and international standards and thus to strengthening the rule of law system through the exchange of legal expertise and capacity building. In addition, Mauritanian justice actors will be involved in regional IRZ activities in order to support South-South cooperation, which aims to strengthen cooperation between countries of the Global South and promote their development. By sharing resources, knowledge and experience, these countries can learn from each other and work together to find solutions to their similar challenges.