HOW SYRIAN ACTIVISTS CONSIDER THEIR COUNTRY’S FUTURE CONSTITUTION

The constitution is of great importance in the legal system of countries since it is the supreme law of the country, and it includes the general and basic rules that define the form of the state (simple or complex), the type of ruling in it (monarchy or republican) and the form of government (presidential, parliamentary or mixed). The constitution also regulates the general authorities (legislative, judicial and executive) in which the state carries out its tasks, the jurisdiction of each of them, and the relationship of these authorities with each other, and clarifies the economic, social, political and cultural principles. The constitution also has a great impact on the citizens of countries, as it defines their rights, freedoms and duties, and stipulates the guarantees that guarantee these rights for them in the face of arbitrariness of the authority. The constitution has preponderance over all other legal rules in the state, which means that the state’s authorities must abide by its provisions when issuing any decisions or enacting any legislation, and that any other decisions or legislations that contradict it are null and void.
In Syria, and following the military coup carried out by Hafez Al-Assad in 1970 and his assumption of power, the permanent constitution of the republic was issued in 1973, and in fact the provisions and texts of that constitution were intended to consolidate the rule of Hafez Al-Assad and the Arab Socialist Baath Party, as Article 8 of the constitution affirmed that the Baath Party is the leading party of the society and the state, and that it leads the National Progressive Front that includes other political parties in the country. The 1973 Constitution has also granted the President of the Republic great powers that make him able to interfere in the work of all state authorities in a way that hollows the concept of the principle of separation of authorities from any content or meaning.
With the outbreak of public protests in Syria in March of 2011 and the expansion of their geographical area, the Syrian regime undertook some nominal reforms, including the adoption of a new constitution for Syria in 2012, which abolished Article 8 of the 1973 Constitution and stipulated party pluralism in Syria, but it has preserved the great and semi-absolute powers of the head of state, as he is the head of the executive authority and has the power to unilaterally issue legislations or block the passage of legislations decided by the People’s Assembly. He is also the president of the Supreme Judicial Council which appoints judges of the Supreme Constitutional Court, and he is also the supreme commander of the Army and Armed Forces, in addition to other powers such as appointing civil and military employees and conducting referendum of the people in cases considered to be contradicting the constitution, in addition to the seven-year electoral cycle that is open to repetition.

Objectives:
The study aims to explore the views of Syrian activists, community leaders and jurists, other influential people within the Syrian society, and people who are interested in political affairs, on the most important constitutional principles that they believe should be stipulated in the new constitution, which is currently being drafted, with the aim of presenting a clear conception for members of the Constitutional Committee on the aspirations and desires of Syrians to be taken into account during committee meetings and discussions that take place within the framework of the constitution drafting process.

Research type: Political Research

Publish date: March 2021

Publisher: INDICATORS Center