TITLE I

GENERAL PROVISIONS AND FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

Article 1: Mauritania is an indivisible, democratic and social Islamic Republic.  The Republic shall guarantee eqality before the law to all of its citizens, without distinction as to origin, race, sex or social condition.  All propaganda of a racial or ethnic character shall be punished by the law.

Article 2: The people shall be the source of all power. The national sovereignty belongs to the people which exercises it through its elected representatives and through referendum. No fraction of the people nor any individual may arrogate to itself its exercises. No partial or total abandon of sovereignty may be decided without the consent of the people.

Article 3: Suffrage may be either direct or indirect, according to the provision of the law. It shall always be universal, equal and secret. All the citizens of the Republic, of both sexes, who are adults and possess their civil and political rights, may vote.

Article 4: The law is the supreme expression of the will of the people. All are required to submit to it.

Article 5: Islam shall be the religion of the people and of the State.

Article 6: The national languages are : Arabic, Poular, Soninké and Wolof; the official language is Arabic.

Article 7: The capital of the State is Nouakchott.

Article 8: The national emblem shall be a flag bearing a crescent and a gold star on a green ground. The seal of the State and the national anthem shall be determined by law.

Article 9: The motto of the Republic shall be : Honor, Fraternity, Justice.

Article 10: The State shall guarantee to all its citizens public and individual freedoms, that is :

  • the freedom to travel and to settle in all parts of the territory of the Republic,

  • the freedom of entry to and of exit from the national territory,

  • the freedom of opinion and of thought,

  • the freedom of expression,

  • the freedom of assembly,

  • the freedom of association and the freedom to belong to any political or labor organization of one’s choice,

  • the freedom of commerce and of industry,

  • the freedom of intellectual, artistic and scientific creative effort,

  • Freedom may be limited only by law.

Article 11: Parties and political groups shall work together for the formation of the expression of the political will. They shall be formed and shall engage in their activities freely, provided that they respect democratic principles and that, through their objectives or by their actions, they not undermine the national sovereignty, the territorial integrity and the unity of the Nation and of the Republic. The law shall determine the conditions for the creation, the functioning and the dissolution of political parties.

Article 12: All citizens may accede to public office or employment, without condition, other than those determined by the law.

Article 13: All persons shall be presumed innocent until the establishment of their guilt by a regularly constituted court. No one may be prosecuted, arrested, detained or punished except in cases determined by the law and according to the formalities which it prescribes. The honor and the private life of the citizen, and the inviolability of his person, his domicile and his correspondence shall be protected by the State. All forms of moral or physical violence shall be proscribed.

Article 14: The right to strike is recognized. It may be exercised within the framework of the laws which regulate it.  Strikes may be forbiden by law for all public services or activities of vital interest to the Nation. It is forbidden in the areas of national defense and security.

Article 15: The right of property shall be guaranteed. The right of inheritance shall be guaranteed. The property of the wakf and its foundations are recognized : their use shall be protected by the law. The law may limit the extent of the exercise of private property, if the exigencies of economic and social development require it. A process of expropriation may be instituted only when public utility demands it and after fair and prior compensation. The law shall determine the judicial rules for expropriation.

Article 16: The State and society all protect the family.

Article 17: Ignorance of the law shall be no excuse.

Article 18: Every citizen has the duty of protecting and safe-guarding the independence of the country, its sovereignty and the integrity of its territory. Treason, espionage, and defecting to the enemy as well as all infractions committed with prejudice to the security of the State shall be punished with all the rigor of the law.

Article 19: Every citizen must loyally fulfill his obligations to the national welfare and must respect both public and private property.

Article 20: Citizens shall be taxed equally. Each must share in the public tax burden according to his ability to contribute. No tax may be instituted except by virtue of a law.

Article 21: Any alien who resides legally on national territory shall enjoy the protection of the law for his person and his property.

Article 22: No one may be extradited unless it is by virtue of the laws and conventions of extradiction.