Preamble
In the name of God All-Powerful
The Djiboutian People solemnly proclaim their attachment to the principles of Democracy and of the Rights of Man as they are defined by the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man and by the African Charter of the Rights of Man and of Peoples, of which the provisions form an integral part of this Constitution.
They affirm their determination to establish a State of Law and of Pluralist Democracy guaranteeing the full enjoyment of the individual and collective rights and freedoms as well as the harmonious development of the national community.
They affirm their will to cooperate in peace and amity with all peoples who share their ideals of liberty, of justice and of solidarity, on the basis of mutual respect, of national sovereignty and of territorial integrity.
TITLE I. OF THE STATE AND OF SOVEREIGNTY
Article 1
Islam is the Religion of the State
The State of Djibouti is a democratic, sovereign, one and indivisible Republic.
It assures to all equality before the law without distinction of language, of origin, of race, of sex or of religion. It respects all beliefs.
Its motto is “Unité – Egalité – Paix” (Unity – Equality –Peace).
Its principle is government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Its official languages are Arabic and French.
Article 2
The capital of the State is Djibouti.
The emblem of the Republic is the blue, green and white flag bearing a red star of five points.
The law determines the anthem and the seal of the Republic.
Article 3
The Republic of Djibouti as composed of the entirety of the persons that it recognizes as members and who have accepted the duties, without distinction of language, of race, of sex or of religion.
The national sovereignty belongs to the Djiboutian people who exercise it through their representatives or by way of referendum. No fraction of the people nor any individual may arrogate the exercise of it.
No one may be arbitrarily deprived of the status of member of the national community.
Article 4
The popular legitimacy is the foundation and the source of all power. It is expressed by universal, equal and secret suffrage.
The executive power and legislative power shall proceed from universal suffrage or from the instances elected through it.
Article 5
All the Djiboutian nationals of majority, of both sexes, enjoying their civil and political rights are electors within the conditions determined by the law.
Article 6
The political parties and/or groups of political parties concur in the expression of suffrage.
They form and exercise their activities freely within respect for the Constitution, and for the principles of national sovereignty and of democracy.
It is forbidden to them to identify themselves to a race, to an ethnicity, to a sex, to a religion, to a sect, to a language or to a region.
The formalities concerning the administrative declaration of the political parties and/or groups, and to the exercise and to the cessation of their activities are determined by the law.
Article 7
The Institutions of the Republic are:
- the executive power,
the legislative power, the judicial power.
Each of these powers assumes the full and entire responsibility of its prerogatives and attributions within such conditions that the continuity and regular functioning of the republican institutions shall be assured.
Article 8
The institutions of the Republic must permit the normal and regular exercise of popular sovereignty and guarantee the full expression of the public rights and freedoms.
Article 9
The institutions must permit the participation of the Republic in regional and international organizations, with respect for sovereignty, for the edification of peace and of international justice and the economic, cultural and social development of peoples.
