Tunisia

IRZ Conference dealing with Tunisian Administrative Jurisdiction

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Published: June 5, 2014

Kick-off event in Tunis on 3 and 4 April 2014 dealing with the reform of the Tunisian administrative jurisdiction

Kick-off event in Tunis on 3 and 4 April 2014 dealing with the reform of the Tunisian administrative jurisdiction

In January 2014, the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia adopted a new constitution. The Tunisian government intends to reform the administrative jurisdiction, amongst other areas, on basis of this reform.

For this reason, the IRZ, in cooperation with the Tunisian Administrative Court ("Tribunal Administratif") and the Tunisian Ministry of Justice, organised the kick-off event "Tunisian Administrative Jurisdiction: Reality and Perspectives" which took place in Tunis on 3 and 4 April 2014.

The event was opened by the Tunisian Minister of Justice, Hafedh Ben Salah, the First President of the Administrative Court of Tunis, Mohamed Faouzi Ben Hamed, two representatives of the Ministry of Justice and the deputy Director of IRZ, Dr. Stefan Hülshörster.

The speakers were Tunisian judges and their German counterparts, Michael Groepper, Judge at the Federal Administrative Court (ret.), and Dr Erwin Allesch, Vice President of the Higher Administrative Court of Bavaria. Their presentations showed both similarities and differences in the legal practice of the two countries. The following intensive discussions gave an important insight into the former and present situation of the Tunisian administrative law. It was pointed out that it was envisaged to reform the Administrative Court Rules of Tunisia. A cooperation between the Tunisian Administrative Court and German Administrative Courts aims at supporting this reform.

The IRZ is planning an expert exchange, amongst other activities, with the Federal Constitutional Court and the Federal Administrative Court, which is to take place soon. Furthermore, it is envisaged to organise further expert seminars in Tunis dealing with relevant constitutional and administrative issues.

The presentations given by the experts also generated broad media coverage with many reports about this successful IRZ event.

Continuation of cooperation in Tunisia

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Published: June 5, 2014
Staff members of the IRZ and representatives of the Tunisian Administrative Court ("Tribunal Administratif"), the Tunisian Chamber of Notaries and the Tunisian Ministry of Justice met during the activities of the "Transformation Partnership" financed by the Federal Foreign Office and the Institute for Foreign Relation.

At this occasion, 27 computers were handed over to the Tunisian Administrative Court. Despite its great willingness to carry out reforms, Tunisia does still not have the required financial means in many cases to implement its envisaged modernisations. The computer donation is part of a contents-related cooperation kicked off in 2013. One of the events organised by the IRZ in cooperation with the DAAD was a two-week colloquium dealing with "Modern Administrative and Private Law", which was attended, amongst others, by four judges of the Tribunal Administratif.

During the symbolic handover which took place at the Administrative Court of Tunis on 23 January 2014 the Court President Ms Raoudha Mechichi thanked the IRZ for the donation and pointed out the big interest in a continuation of the contents-related cooperation in 2014 and further on. The IRZ has planned a professional exchange with the Federal Constitutional Court and the Federal Administrative Court in this context as well as further specialised seminars in Tunis covering relevant constitutional and administrative issues.

Furthermore, the IRZ has handed over a book donation to the Centre d'études Juridiques et Judiciaires (CEJJ) for its library. The CEJJ is an institute for legal and judicial studies supervised by the Ministry of Justice where delegated judges are concerned/deal with the drafting of bills, amongst other things.

Follow-Up Conference in Tunis dealing with the Hague Conventions

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Published: June 3, 2014
The international legal cooperation on the basis of the Hague Conventions is in the focus of the international conferences organised by the IRZ this year. After the event in Tbilisi in February 2013 implemented for our partner states from Central and Eastern Europe, the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia, a follow-up conference took place in Tunis on 29/30 October 2013 attended by representatives from nine states of the Arab legal system. These were: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauretania, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.

The event provided a confidential setting for the IRZ in order to promote the accession to or the ratification of the Hague Conventions in an open dialogue in cooperation with the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference. These offer unique opportunities for facilitating international legal relations in times of increasing global networking. To continue the approximation process and to build on the achievements made so far, the IRZ is planning a follow-up conference to take place in one of the participating Arab states in 2014 in cooperation with the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference.