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National Constitutional provisions – Comoros

 

The constitution is the fundamental law of the country, reflecting the underlying and unifying values of society. It spells out the basic rights of each person; it serves as a framework for all other laws and policies, and cannot be easily changed. However, it can be changed and updated through a democratic process, and it is important to keep it alive, by popularising and using it, and by campaigning for its reform or amendment if necessary. Below we have picked out what we see as some of the most relevant articles, but please be encouraged to seek and read your constitution in its entirety.

The state is the central actor in any claim to the right to education: it is the prime duty-bearer and the prime implementer; it is the guarantor; and it is the state´s signature vis-à-vis the international norms and standards which binds it to respect, protect and fulfil the right to education. The state must therefore be judged or challenged on its central text on the right to education, whether this be the constitution, the laws or the policies.

The Constitution of Comoros 23 December 2001. 

EDUCATION 

Preamble

The right of all to health and education; 

CHILD RIGHTS 

Preamble

The right of children and youth to be protected by the authorities against any form of abandonment, exploitation and violence;  

EQUALITY 

Preamble

 Equality of rights and duties for all the Islands;

 Equality of rights and duties for all without distinction of sex, origin, race, religion or belief; 

GENDER 

Preamble

Le peuple comorien, affirme solennellement sa volonté de […]marquer son attachement aux principes et droits fondamentaux […], ainsi que les conventions internationales notamment celles relatives aux droits de l’enfant et de la femme. 

CITIZENSHIP 

Article 5

Comorian nationality is acquired, kept and lost in accordance with the law. No one who is Comorian by birth can be deprived of his or her nationality. 

LANGUAGE 

Article 1

Les langues officielles sont le Shikomor, langue

nationale, le français et l’arabe. 

HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS 

Preamble

To mark their attachment to the principles and fundamental rights defined by the Charter of the United Nations, the Charter of the Organization of African Unity, the Charter of the Arab League of Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, as well as international conventions, notably those relating to the rights of children and women.