International Law
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Sign upArab Law Quarterly: Celebrating 35 Years with free access to selected articles
Arab Law Quarterly, the leading English language scholarly publication on matters relating to the law of Arab states, will publish its 35th Volume in 2021. To celebrate this, five sets of seven articles, hand-picked from past volumes by Editor-in-Chief Haider Ala Hamoudi, will be available for free downloading during 2021.
New Series: International and Comparative Business Law and Public Policy
The Series offers an outlet for monographs and collective works making substantial contributions to interdisciplinary research.
Forthcoming: Encyclopedia of Public International Law in Asia (3 vols)
Incorporating the work of numerous leading scholars, the Encyclopedia of Public International Law in Asia provides a detailed description of the practice and implementation of international law in various Asian states. The Encyclopedia is also available online.
Overview Argentina is a federal republic where the President is the Head of State and the Head of Government, and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The federal government is divided in three branches: the Executive branch, led by the President; the Legislative branch, represented by the National Congress; and the Judicial branch, represented by the Courts of Justice and headed by the Supreme Court. The governments of the different provinces have a similar structure. The National Congress is formed by two chambers (bicameral), the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate is formed by representatives of all 23 provinces and the City of Buenos Aires. According to the Constitution, the powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved for the provinces. Therefore, two types of legal rules coexist in Argentina: federal legislation governing the entire country and the Federal Capital and local legislation within each self-governing province. The Judicial branch is formed by the Supreme Court of Justice, the National Council of the Magistracy and the lower courts. Judges can only be removed if they are found guilty of serious crimes by a jury formed of national legislators, magistrates and lawyers.
Overview Cameroon is a presidential republic that follows French civil law tradition and English common law tradition from its colonial history but also engages in practice of customary law.CIA World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cameroon/#government. Cameroon has established oversight of constitutional issues and elections in its Constitutional Council.Constitutional Council, https://www.prc.cm/en/cameroon/institutions/171-constitutional-council. The President serves as the chief of state. The President is directly elected by simple majority vote of the people for a seven-year term and there are no term limits. The Prime Minister acts as head of the government and is appointed by the President. The Prime Minister proposes the cabinet, which is appointed by the President.CIA World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cameroon/#government. The legislature is a bicameral parliament consisting of a Senate (Senat), which has 100 seats and a National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) which consists of 180 seats. Members of the senate are either indirectly elected by regional councils (70 seats) or appointed by the president (30 seats) for five-year terms. Members of the National Assembly are directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by simple vote to serve five-year terms.Id. Cameroon’s court system is hierarchical. The highest courts are the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Council. The justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President on the advice of a judicial advisory body known as the Higher Judicial Council of Cameroon. Constitutional Council members are appointed by the President for single nine-year terms. Lower courts include the Parliamentary Court of Justice (whose jurisdiction is limited to cases involving the President and Prime Minister), appellate courts, tribunals of first instance, and circuit and magistrates’ courts.For more information on the various courts, see the following websites (some of which are only available in French): Cour suprême, http://www.minjustice.gov.cm/index.php/fr/2-non-categorise/3-cour-supreme; Constitutional Council, https://www.prc.cm/en/cameroon/institutions/171-constitutional-council; Carte judicaire et pénitentiaire, http://www.minjustice.gov.cm/index.php/fr/institution/organigramme/38-index-categories-fr/carte-judiciaire-et-penitentiaire?layout=blog; and for general information in English on the judicial system in Togo, see CIA World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cameroon/#government. Cameroon has ten administrative regions: Adamaoua, Centre, East (Est), Far North (Extreme-Nord), Littoral, North (Nord), North-West (Nord-Ouest), West (Ouest), South (Sud), and South-West (Sud-Ouest).CIA World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cameroon/#government. Foundational Documents Since the unification of the French and British regions in 1961, Cameroon has had some form of constitution, though there have been several iterations through the years. The first Constitution of the Republic of Cameroon was adopted in 1972. The constitution was reworked in 1984 and again in 1996, and was most recently amended in 2008.For current and prior versions of the Togolese constitution, see HeinOnline World Constitutions Illustrated library. Civic Participation The constitution stipulates that all are equal before the law, regardless of race, religion, sex, or belief.Preamble, Constitution of the Republic of Cameroon, Law No. 96/06 of 18 Jan. 1996 to amend the Constitution of 2 June 1972, amended and supplemented by Law No. 2008/001 of 14 Apr. 2008 (HeinOnline World Constitutions Illustrated library). All citizens 20 years or older are eligible to vote.Art. 2, Constitution of the Republic of Cameroon, Law No. 96/06 of 18 Jan. 1996 to amend the Constitution of 2 June 1972, amended and supplemented by Law No. 2008/001 of 14 Apr. 2008 (HeinOnline World Constitutions Illustrated library). Average turnout for elections is around 70.3% with the most recent presidential election drawing 68.28% of the electoral population.Election Guide: Cameroon, International Foundation for Electoral Systems, https://www.electionguide.org/countries/id/38/. Religion The constitution prohibits religious discrimination and promotes freedom of religious expression.Preamble, Constitution of the Republic of Cameroon, Law No. 96/06 of 18 Jan. 1996 to amend the Constitution of 2 June 1972, amended and supplemented by Law No. 2008/001 of 14 Apr. 2008 (HeinOnline World Constitutions Illustrated library). About 70.7% of the population is Christian and 24.4% identifies as Muslim.CIA World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cameroon/#people-and-society. For more information, see Charles Fombad “State, Religion and Law in Cameroon: Regulatory Control, Tension and Accommodation,” Journal of Church and State 57, 1 (2015): 18-43, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcs/cst054.