Tunis, 25 May 2026

Statement

The Executive Authority’s Persistence in Undermining the Foundations of Justice

The Executive Bureau of the Tunisian Judges Association, following closely the overall judicial situation during the 2025/2026 judicial year,

and based on the outcomes of the Fifteenth Congress of the Tunisian Judges Association held on 7 and 8 February 2026, during which the participating judges expressed their deep concern over the absence of constitutional institutions guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary and judges, foremost among them the Supreme Judicial Council, as well as the continued paralysis of the Temporary Judicial Council due to vacancies in senior judicial positions that have remained unfilled since 2023, resulting in an arbitrary management of the professional careers of judicial judges and making them dependent, through administrative memoranda, on the unilateral will of the Ministry of Justice, together with the continued obstruction preventing the newly appointed members of the Temporary Financial Judicial Council from assuming their duties, leading to complete paralysis for more than a year,

and after observing the continued issuance by the Ministry of Justice of administrative memoranda concerning the transfer of judges of various ranks on a massive and repeated basis and outside any legal framework authorising such actions, despite the obvious consequences of these memoranda on the efficiency of judicial work and on citizens’ right to prompt justice, including the destabilising effects of these illegal and arbitrary measures on the judges concerned through instability both in their place of work and in their jurisdiction,

notes the following:

First: Concerning Administrative Memoranda

The Executive Bureau recalls its previous statements on this matter, particularly:

• the statement dated 9 September 2024, in which the Association exposed the Ministry of Justice’s complete appropriation of the powers of the Judicial Council and its attempt to impose control over the judiciary;
• the statement dated 17 February 2025, in which the Association described the catastrophic condition of the Tunisian judiciary as a result of the continuous and unlawful reliance on administrative memoranda aimed at introducing substantial changes to the composition of courts;
• and the statement issued on 7 October 2025, through which the Association revealed the Ministry of Justice’s grip over judges and explained how these memoranda violate Article 121 of the 2022 Constitution.

The Executive Bureau notes the repeated issuance of memoranda in recent months, whose number has reached approximately 1,700. Upon examination, it appears that the Ministry of Justice has adopted, in a number of cases, an approach based on retaliation, revenge, and disguised punishment, including the following examples:

1. A number of memoranda arbitrarily targeted judges because of their trade union activities, their candidacy for membership in the Executive Bureau of the Tunisian Judges Association, their defence of freedom of expression, or their attempts to inform public opinion about the state of the judiciary. Others were issued against judges because of their commitment to neutrality and independence in decision-making.
2. Several judges were subjected, within a short period and without any clear justification, to more than one memorandum. Some were transferred several times to locations far from their homes without regard for the sacrifices they had previously made by serving in inland courts, and without the application of objective or statistical criteria comparable to those applied to other judges.
3. Certain memoranda took the form of disguised sanctions and double punishments affecting judges’ acquired rights in terms of rank and responsibilities. A single memorandum could combine transfer, demotion, and removal from office.
4. Some memoranda were issued as acts of favouritism and functioned as rewards for certain judges, such as appointments to the positions of President of a Court of First Instance, Public Prosecutor, or President of an Appellate Chamber granted to judges from classes 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19, at the expense of more senior colleagues from earlier graduating classes of the Higher Institute of the Judiciary, without proper consideration in some cases for competence, seniority, or independence.
5. The continuous issuance of memoranda throughout the judicial year has harmed litigants’ interests by creating vacancies in important and sensitive positions, leaving numerous investigating judges’ offices without replacements, and causing the dissolution of judicial panels in cases under deliberation because of the transfer of one of the judges involved, thereby increasing litigation delays and hindering citizens’ access to justice.

Second: Concerning the Circulars Issued by the Minister of Justice Regarding Judges’ Travel and Participation in Scientific and Cultural Activities

Following the issuance by the Minister of Justice of Circular No. 210 of 2026 dated 22 April 2026 concerning the procedures governing judges’ participation in scientific and cultural activities and teaching activities, which makes any participation in such activities subject to prior authorisation from the Ministry of Justice, it should be recalled that Article 16 of the Judges’ Basic Statute limits the requirement for ministerial authorisation solely to teaching activities and does not extend it to participation in scientific and cultural activities according to each judge’s intellectual and cultural interests and qualifications.

The Executive Bureau stresses that the content of this circular, beyond its illegality, clearly reflects the Ministry of Justice’s intention to impose prior control over judges’ activities in all fields and deprive them of their natural right to exercise their citizenship by contributing to scientific and cultural life through their opinions and participation.

The Executive Bureau also notes that Circular No. 208 dated 24 March 2026 concerning judges’ travel violates Article 39 of the Judges’ Basic Statute, as amended by Organic Law No. 13 of 2012 dated 4 August 2012, which grants judges the right to travel and leave the territory of the Republic subject only to informing the president of the court where they serve.

Consequently, any additional condition or procedure imposed by the circular is deemed without effect and non-binding on judges. The Executive Bureau considers that the circular’s true aim is to restrict judges and impose unlawful supervision over their constitutional right to freedom of movement both within Tunisia and abroad.

Accordingly, the Executive Bureau:

1. Affirms that the administrative memoranda issued by the Minister of Justice, in addition to their clear legal violations, have placed Tunisian judges in an unprecedented situation in terms of professional guarantees, showing complete disregard for their family and health conditions and their physical safety by forcing them to work in courts located hundreds of kilometres from their homes.
2. Clarifies that the effects of these memoranda go beyond the judges directly concerned and affect the entire judiciary, which now lives under constant anticipation and fear due to the absence of guarantees, making judges vulnerable to pressure and intimidation and seriously threatening their independence and professional performance.
3. Warns that the proliferation of these memoranda has gone beyond infringing judges’ rights and now clearly and dangerously affects litigants’ rights as well, disrupting the proper functioning of the judicial system and compromising the right to timely justice.
4. Calls on the executive authority to respect the Constitution and the law and to cease interfering in the prerogatives of the constitutional institutions responsible for overseeing the judiciary, in accordance with the principle of separation of powers.
5. Regrets that the 2025/2026 judicial year is drawing to a close without the preparation of the annual judicial movement by the Supreme Judicial Council, as required by law and international standards on judicial independence, and renews its call for the establishment of the Supreme Judicial Council in all its components.
6. Calls on the Ministry of Justice to end its authoritarian approach, which it believes has evolved from an abuse of power into outright arbitrariness, and urges the political authorities to revise their policy towards the judiciary in line with legal guarantees and international standards on judicial independence.
7. Notes the continued failure to issue promotion decrees for sixty judges of the Administrative Court from the 2017 class and eleven judges from the 2018 class despite approval by the Administrative Judicial Council and transmission to the Presidency of the Republic.
8. Also notes the continued obstruction by the executive authority of the appointment of the First President of the Court of Auditors despite the completion of nomination procedures since November 2022, leaving the Court without a First President for more than three years and causing complete paralysis within the Temporary Financial Judicial Council for over a year.
9. Welcomes and commends the commitment of several judges subjected to arbitrary transfers to maintaining their neutrality and independence in decision-making, and renews its call on all judges to remain faithful to the nobility of their mission, to apply the law without yielding to pressure, and to rally around their Association.

For the Executive Bureau
The President of the Association
Anas Hmadi