Mohamed Fadhel Mahfoudh
Public institutions are inherently human and therefore fallible, making constitutions essential as legal guardrails against the abuse of power. Yet constitutional oversight requires not only legal authority but also legitimacy, without which democracies risk repeated crises. In many countries, including Tunisia, this responsibility has been entrusted to constitutional courts. Tunisia’s attempts to establish a fully functioning court – first in 2014, then again in 2022 – highlight the challenges of securing effective and legitimate constitutional oversight.
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Carlos Bernal
A key goal for any polity in transition should be the establishment of an independent judiciary, alongside the incorporation of new constitutional rules, guidelines – such as those articulated by the Constitution Hill document – to secure judicial independence in the future. Only independent judges can ensure that the aims of transitional justice are achieved.
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Kate O’Regan
In a world in which democracy appears to be in retreat, and attacks on the judicial branch of government, especially apex courts, are depressingly on the rise, the Constitution Hill Global Guidelines on Apex Court Appointments seek to turn our attention to two key aspects of judicial appointments (the criteria for appointment and the process to be followed) that are too often unexamined.
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Sujit Choudhry, Alejandro Urrutia
At a time when the quality of judicial appointments can determine whether democracy erodes or endures, the reflections in this symposium could not be more timely. The Guidelines are not a rigid blueprint, but rather an invitation to structured, informed debate. We hope that the ideas shared here contribute to strengthening apex courts—and, with them, the democratic systems they are meant to uphold.
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