Translations into Arabic - Rule of Law Programme Middle East and North Africa
Laws and Rulings
Translated into Arabic
Bridging legal language barriers
The rule of law has always, but particularly been noteworthy in the Arab world since the 2011 popular uprisings that reformed the institutions in several countries of the region such as Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and more. Laws and rulings present the norms in which society must conduct itself in. In many of the countries in the region, many laws are unimplemented, are selectively implemented or even are impossible to implement. Alongside the slow socio-economic growth these countries are facing – notably due to ongoing crisis across the region -, societies in the MENA region have to some degree still not grown accustomed to the importance of laws and rulings in organizing their societies.
As a result of Germany’s dark Nazi past, the country’s "Basic Law" (Grundgesetz) of 1949 has seen significant value within its people, as they see it as a sign of national pride. The members of the drafting constitutional council spelled out the essence of what they considered to be essential lessons for building a democratic state that upholds the rule of law and protects human dignity (Menschenwürde) against all imaginable future threats. The Grundgesetz created a legal framework for a stable and sustainable democracy, making it an obligation for the executive, legislative and judiciary powers to conform to these laws and the seperation of powers. With time, both laws and rulings have created a stable framework in which society and public institutions simultaneously work together in preserving individual rights.
In Middle Eastern and North African countries, there has been a steady evolution of law and legal systems, resulting from a mix between westernized “modern” influence as well as keeping its traditional values in place. Efforts in modernizing judicial and legal practices using western legal means have been a helpful tool in spreading democracy in the region. As part of this series, the Rule of Law Programme Middle East & North Africa translates court decisions and laws from German into Arabic. These efforts will permit young scholars to explore the importance of legislative and judicial work in developing a sustainable democratic system.
Beirut, 2023; by Philipp Bremer & Ahmad Jenzarli
Fundamental Works of Constitutional Law
Translated into Arabic
Supporting Comparative Constitutional Law
In the last twenty years, especially as a consequence of the popular uprisings in the region in 2011, the institutions charged with constitutional review in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa – be it Constitutional Courts, Constitutional Councils, Supreme Courts or High Tribunals - are being reformed (e.g. Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan). Some, already earlier too, have been established for the first time (e.g. Bahrain in 2002, Iraq in 2004 or Saudi Arabia in 2009), some have been attributed new competences, and new procedures have been introduced, thus indicating a rising awareness for the importance of constitutional review as an instrument for judicial oversight. With constitution-building processes and reform of constitutional courts ongoing, comparative constitutional law has become a topic on the rise.
Over the past half century, the German post-war constitutional state has gained respect internationally. At the basis of its economic, political and social development lies its constitutional system. The German Federal Constitutional Court has played a fundamental role since in the country’s efforts to establish a stable, balanced system of government, and in upholding the constitution, its principles and the individual rights vested in it. Within more than 70 years of jurisdiction it has continuously done so by applying, interpreting and developing the constitutional framework of Germany.
This - in 2019 - initiated series of the Rule of Law Programme Middle East & North Africa strives to present constitutional concepts that have been of fundamental relevance to the (positive) development of the German constitutional state. In order to meet a growing interest of young Arab speaking scholars from the region in comparative constitutional law, the Rule of Law Programme Middle East & North Africa has decided to complement this endeavour by publishing a series of selected works on German constitutional law in Arabic translation. The works translated into Arabic and published in this series invite to explore, compare and debate existing concepts and solutions that were developed to address certain questions.
Beirut, 2019; by Anja Schoeller-Schletter (edited in 2023)