Exterior view of the Place Mohammed V courthouse in Casablanca

 

The political developments and transition processes in the Southern Mediterranean countries since 2011 (for example in Tunisia and Libya) or major constitutional reforms (as in the case of Morocco and Jordan), have made CoE expertise particularly relevant.

This cluster of activities is supporting the constitutional and legislative reform agenda in the Southern Mediterranean, which form the foundations of a democratic state. The CoE is intervening at structural level and, based on demand, providing technical assistance to partner countries in the preparation and effective implementation of draft legislation in the field of constitutional and electoral matters, but also in relation to new legal frameworks in the partner countries related to human rights and Rule of law (including organic legislation).

Building on the achievements of the Programme South I, the Council of Europe is also supporting the process of setting-up of the necessary human rights and democratic governance institutions, and democratically elected representative instances, which uphold and sustain the new legal standards.

In fact, taking a strong position on strengthening national institutions under the leadership of partner countries has also been identified at the Busan summit on aid effectiveness as one of the means to achieve more effective development cooperation.