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National Constitutional provisions – Gabon

 

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 Gabon 26 March 1991, amended 2003

 

EDUCATION

 

Art. One

The Gabonese Republic recognizes and guarantees the inviolable and imprescriptible rights of Man, which obligatorily constrain public powers.

(16) The support to be given to children and their education constitute, for parents, a natural right and duty which they exercise under the surveillance and with the aid of the State and public entities. Parents have the right, in the area of scholarly obligation, to decide upon the moral and religious education of their children. The children have, vis-a-vis the State, the same rights concerning assistance as well as their physical, intellectual and moral development.

(18) The State guarantees equal access of the child and the adult to instruction, to professional education and to culture.

(19) The State has a duty to organize public education on the principle of religious neutrality and, according to possibilities, on the basis of gratuity; the granting of diplomas is the prerogative of the State. However, freedom of education is guaranteed to all. Any person may open a preschool, primary, secondary, superior establishment or a university, under conditions fixed by law. In Public educational establishments, religious instruction may be dispensed to students upon the demand of their parents, under conditions determined by regulations.

 

EQUALITY

Article 2

La République gabonaise assure l'égalité de tous les citoyens devant la loi, sans distinction d'origine, de race, de sexe, d'opinion ou de religion.

LANGUAGE

Article 2

La République gabonaise adopte le français comme langue officielle de travail. En outre, elle oeuvre pour la protection et la promotion des langues nationales.

RELIGION

Article 2

Le Gabon est une République indivisible, laïque, démocratique et sociale. Il affirme la séparation de l'Etat et des religions et reconnaît toutes les croyances, sous réserve du respect de l'ordre public.

HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

Preamble

Affirme solennellement son attachement aux droits de l'homme et aux libertés fondamentales tels qu'ils résultent de la Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, consacrés par la Déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme de 1948, par la Charte africaine des droits de l'homme et des peuples de 1981 et par la Charte nationale des libertés de 1990 ;