The Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo () is the basic law governing the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. The Constitution has been changed and/or replaced several times since its independence in 1960.

Current Constitution

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is now under the regime of the constitution which was approved in a referendum by the Congolese people, and promulgated on February 18, 2006 by President

Joseph Kabila Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician who served as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between January 2001 and January 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, Pres ...

. It is the Democratic Republic of the Congo's sixth constitution since 1960.

General provisions

New political subdivisions were brought by this constitution. The country is divided in 25 provinces, and the capital-city of

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one of ...

– to take full-effect 36 months after the official installation of the newly elected President, which occurred on December 6, 2006. The motto of the country is : "Justice, Peace, Work".

Political pluralism

Creating and belonging to a political party is a civil and political right for all Congolese people.

Political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

must obey the law on political parties, respect public order and operate in accordance with "good mores". Parties receive subsidies from the government for their electoral campaign. Having a one-party-system is expressly unconstitutional.

Nationality and citizenship

Congolese citizenship is exclusive. Double citizenship is therefore impossible in theory. Anyone belonging to the ethnic groups whose persons and territory constituted what became Congo (currently the Democratic Republic of the Congo), at independence is a Congolese national. Any Congolese national who has not lost his/her political rights, by virtue of a court decision, or by virtue of the law, is a Congolese citizen.

Rights and duties

Civil, political, economic, social, cultural and collective rights, as well as the duties of all citizens, are defined in Title II of the constitution – the unofficial bill of rights and duties. Title II also states that ignorance of the law is not a valid defense in court, or anywhere. The new constitution limits marriage, in article 40, as the right to « marry the person of one's choice, of the opposite sex, and to create a family » ; thus, it forbids

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

Constitutional history

The country's first, provisional, constitution was the fundamental law of 1960, which was based on the

Constitution of Belgium The Constitution of Belgium ( nl, Belgische Grondwet, french: Constitution belge, german: Verfassung Belgiens) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility ...

and established a parliamentary republic. A new constitution, dated August 1, 1964, strengthened the powers of the presidency, enhanced still further by the June 24, 1967 charter. The Congo was renamed

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

in 1971, and a new constitution was adopted in August 1974. It concentrated virtually all power in the hands of President

Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...

. This document was revised on February 15, 1978, and amended on July 5, 1990. A transitional constitution was then promulgated in April 1994. A Constitutional Act was promulgated in May 1997; draft constitution was proposed but not finalized in March 1998. From April 2, 2003, the country was under
Transition Constitution
which was established as a result of the 2002 Global and Inclusive Agreement of Sun City, South Africa that ended the

Second Congo War The Second Congo War,, group=lower-alpha also known as the Great War of Africa or the Great African War and sometimes referred to as the African World War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year a ...

. This document was in effect until the current constitution came into force on February 18, 2006.

Gallery

File:Luluabourg Constitution, Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), published in Moniteur Congolais.pdf, The "Luluabourg Constitution" of 1964, published in ''Moniteur Congolais''. File:1964 Congo Constitution - Table of Contents 01.JPG, Table of Contents of the "Luluabourg Constitution" of 1964. File:1964 Congo Constitution - Page 1.JPG, First page of the "Luluabourg Constitution" of 1964.

References

External links

Text of the Organic Law (1960)

Text of the Constitution (1964)

at Digithèque de matériaux juridiques et politiques (

University of Perpignan The University of Perpignan (french: Université de Perpignan; ca, Universitat de Perpinyà Via Domitia) is a French university, located in Perpignan. History The first university of Perpignan was established in 1349 by King Peter IV of Ara ...

)
Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
{{Constitutions of Africa Law of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo