| Somalia |
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The Transitional Federal Charter of the Somali Republic, or TFC is the principle organizing document of the Somali Republic, written and approved in February 2004 in Nairobi, Kenya. It represents one of the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) of the state, along with the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP), which is the legislative branch, and the executive branch under the President, known as the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).
It should not be confused with a national constitution, which is distinguished as a separate document (Chapter 4, Article 11, Section 3(a)).
A 30-member committee consisting of government officials and members of the citizenry is slated to table a new national constitution after first gathering local opinion on the issue. The new constitution is intended to, among other things, accord more powers to civilians. It will also allow the establishment of regional states like Puntland based on Islamic principles.[1]
Contents |
The Charter's first Chapter establishes the Transitional Federal Government as the sovereign government of Somalia (Article 1), and gives the government supremacy of law over the nation (Article 3). It defines Somalia (in Article 3) as having the following borders:
(a) North; Gulf of Aden.
(b) North West; Djibouti.
(c) West; Ethiopia.
(d) South south-west; Kenya.
(e) East; Indian Ocean.
This puts a territorial contention with the self-declared autonomous state of the Republic of Somaliland, which has been operating as a de facto independent state, though it is not recognized internationally. It also includes the autonomous state of Puntland.
Lastly, it defines a Supreme Court (Article 4) for address of any laws or acts in contravention of the Charter.
This chapter grants citizenship to all persons who were citizens of the Somali Republic at the time the Charter came into effect, and extends citizenship to all those who were born in the Somali Republic, or whose father is a citizen of the Somali Republic, so long as that did not conflict with other citizenships (Article 10).
This Chapter defines the government as a federation and describes the nature of the federal government. It defines the scope and structure of the republic as a hierarchy (Article 11):
For example, Puntland would qualify as a State Government, if it choose to remain so organized within this structure.
It also calls for a national census to be conducted and a new Constitution to be drafted by a Federal Constitution Commission, and for the Constitution to be approved by a national referendum. It also defines a Ministry of Federal and Constitutional Affairs to implement such affairs.
Auxiliary organs are also called out: auditor general, attorney general, accountant general, and Governor of Central Bank (Article 12).
This Chapter deals with a number of personal civil rights:
The next several Chapters define the branches of government:
These sections cover policies regarding administration of the country as a whole.
These sections invest Parliament with the power to amend the Charter, state that anything not covered by the Charter is to be governed by the 1960 Somalia Constitution, and defines other factors of the transitional period.
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