Algeria

Military Tribunals

Military courts try matters relating to espionage, state security, and other offenses committed by military personnel. These courts are also activated under periods of martial law and have been used to try numerous Islamists, the most notable being Abbassi Madani and Ali Benhadj, leaders of the FIS, which was banned in 1992. The courts consist of three civil judges and two military judges. One of the civil judges presides.

High Judicial Council

The 1976 constitution provided for the establishment of a High Judicial Council responsible for presiding over issues of judicial discipline and implementation and the appointment of judicial officials. The president of the nation serves as president of the council, and the minister of justice serves as vice president. The council is also charged with advising the president on the exercise of his power to pardon.

Data as of December 1993

Algeria - TABLE OF CONTENTS

Government and Politics

• POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT
  • Postindependence Politics and the Socialist Tradition
  • The Revolutionary Period and Independence
  • The "Heroic" Stage: Ben Bella's Regime, 1962-65
  • Boumediene and the Socialist Experiment
    • Council of the Revolution, 1965-75
    • Formation of the Second Algerian Republic, 1976-79
  • Recent Political Events
    • Political-Economic Liberalization under Benjedid, 1979-88
    • Democratization, October 1988-January 11, 1992
    • Return to Authoritarianism, January 11, 1992
• POLITICAL STRUCTURE AND PROCESSES
  • Structure of the National Government
    • Constitution
    • Executive: Presidential System
    • Legislative: National People's Assembly
  • Role of Political Parties
    • FLN Role
    • Legalization of Political Parties and Beginnings of a Pluralist System
    • Electoral System
  • Judicial System
    • Supreme Court
    • Provincial Courts
    • Tribunals
    • Military Tribunals
    • High Judicial Council
  • Local and Regional Government
  • Wilayat
  • Dawair
    • Communes
    • Municipal Government
• EFFECTIVE INSTITUTIONS
  • Political Configuration: The Army-Party-State Triangle
  • The Elite
  • Military Dictatorship
    • High Council of State
    • National Consultative Council
  • The Islamist Factor
    • The Islamist Movement since the Late 1980s
    • Role of the FIS
• CIVIL SOCIETY
  • The Algerian General Workers' Union and the Workers' Movement
  • Youth and Student Unions
  • The National Union of Algerian Farmers
  • The Entrepreneurial Class
  • Socialist Vanguard Party
  • The Women's Movement
  • The Press
  • The Arabization Movement
• FOREIGN POLICY
  • General Trends
  • Africa
    • The Maghrib
    • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Arab and Middle East Affairs
  • The West
    • The United States
    • France and the Mediterranean Countries