Benin report - Institut Africain de la Gouvernance

CHAPTER THREE: DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL GOVERNANCE__________________________________________________________________________Objective 4:Separate powers, protect the independence of thejudiciary and develop an efficient Parliamenti. Summary of the CSAR207. With regard to the constitutional provisions separating powers, severalprovisions in the constitution of Benin separate powers. This separation isachieved through the institutions created under the constitution. Theseinstitutions are functioning quite well except for a few internal and externalproblems. Data collected during the study shows that the separation of powersdoes not work perfectly in Benin.208. The Executive in Benin is particularly powerful because the president of therepublic, who is both the head of state and head of government, has asignificant number of functions. Consequently, the Executive has a markedinfluence over the other two powers, the legislature and the judiciary. Thisleads to some interference between powers. This, in turn, brings corruption,politicisation and bribery in its wake.209. With regard to the independence of the legislature, the National Assemblyis certainly independent. The constitution even accords it one section (Section5) just as it does the Executive. Its functions – the exercise of legislativeauthority and control of government activities – are set out in the constitution.The National Assembly passes its own bylaws but is controlled by theConstitutional Court, as is stipulated in the constitution. However, a largenumber of Beninese nationals believe that the National Assembly is notplaying its role of watchdog over government activities effectively. This givesrise to a need to enhance the functions of the National Assembly to includemonitoring the implementation of the national budget.210. With regard to the independence of the judiciary, most Beninese citizenssee the judiciary as an extension of the Executive, since the Executive wieldssome influence over it – despite the existence of a law that establishes itsindependence. The CSAR focuses on a number of problems plaguing thejudicial system. These include corruption, disputes about jurisdiction, and theweakness of the judiciary. To strengthen the judiciary and make itindependent, it has become necessary to make the president of the SupremeCourt the chairperson of the JSC, to dismiss unscrupulous judges andencourage the honest ones, and to highlight the best practices of the judiciaryin order to enhance the confidence of the citizens in their justice system.ii.Conclusions of the CRMConstitutional provisions establishing the separation of powers211. Available documents provide a wealth of information about the existingconstitutional and legislative provisions on the separation and balance of94