While the Tunisian president pledged to implement the decision to dissolve him, the Supreme Judicial Council considers its replacement to be in opposition to the law and the constitution
The Supreme Judicial Council announced its absolute rejection of the Tunisian president's decision to dissolve the council and replace it with a temporary one, considering that the creation of any alternative to it is null and has no legal effect.
The Council affirmed its refusal to prejudice the constitutional structure of the judiciary in Tunisia outside the framework of legitimacy, and the establishment of a transitional phase that contradicts the constitution and the interest of justice.
The council said that in its current composition, it is the only constitutional and legitimate institution representing the judicial authority in Tunisia, and any alternative to it that will be developed will be non-existent and have no legal effect.
Tunisian judges organized a protest sit-in in front of the Palace of Justice in the capital, in protest against the decision of President Kais Saied, in which they raised slogans adhering to the independence of the judiciary, and others considered the decision to dissolve the council to restore the image of the judiciary under executive authority.
President's pledge
This coincided with a strike carried out by judges, at a time when the Tunisian Minister of Justice, Leila Jaffal, confirmed President Said's adherence to the Council, and his keenness to review the law regulating it, as she put it; This is what Parliament Speaker Youssef Bouzacher considered evasive and a dangerous indication of the termination of the country's constitution.
The Tunisian president had pledged to implement his decision to dissolve the Supreme Judicial Council, saying at the beginning of a cabinet session that there was no room for doubt that the aforementioned council would be dissolved and replaced by another council.
The Tunisian president also stressed that he does not interfere in the affairs of the judiciary, but insists on the importance of combating what he called "illegal enrichment."
In a statement published on Wednesday, 45 associations and NGOs, including Lawyers Without Borders and the World Organization Against Torture, condemned the dissolution of the Supreme Judicial Council, and rejected "any interference from the executive authority in the work of the judiciary."
The statement added that "despite all the humiliations that have accompanied the work of the Supreme Judicial Council since its election, it remains the only structure that guarantees the institutional independence of the judiciary in accordance with the constitution."