Syrian lawyer and academic: The importance of the constitutional declaration is that it is an integral part of human rights treaties.

Three months after the fall of the former regime, the country entered an important new phase in building a political system that reflects the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish a participatory state based on the principles of justice, freedom, and democracy.

In this phase, the transitional process of governance and state administration is being organized within a legal framework and constitutional guidelines.
The constitutional declaration stands as one of the most prominent features of this phase and a fundamental turning point in building a democratic state and laying the foundations of justice and equality through the enactment of concepts and laws that regulate social and political life.
In an exclusive interview with Al-Thawra, Syrian lawyer and academic based in France, Zouhair Mardini, affirmed that the importance of the constitutional declaration issued on March 8 lies in the fact that it is an integral part of the human rights treaties that Syria had previously signed.
Mardini added that the emphasis on the importance of respecting human rights within the conduct of the military institution was particularly noteworthy in the text of the declaration.
As for the declaration’s approach to the principle of separation of powers, Mardini said that freeing the position of the President of the Supreme Judicial Council from the authority of the Presidency of the Republic is a positive and highly significant step to ensure the independence of the judiciary as a branch that should not be placed under the control of the head of the executive authority.
On the legislative side and its separation from executive authority, Mardini pointed out that Syria had been burdened by so-called legislative decrees issued by the president. According to the declaration, the power of legislation has now become exclusively vested in the People’s Assembly, ensuring the complete independence of the legislative institution.
In Article 11 of the General Provisions section, Mardini added that the constitutional text, in terms of economic doctrine, has made a definitive stance by adopting the principle of a free market. In doing so, it has effectively moved Syria out from under the mantle of socialism, which it had embraced—at least theoretically—during certain stages of the 1960s.

Rawaa Ghanam