23 December 2019
Regional Assent and the legal validity of Special Status
Dear Reader:
On Friday 20 December 2019, Cameroon’s Senate adopted the Bill to Institute a General Code of Regional and Local Authorities. The said Bill contains provisions pertaining to a Special Status for the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon. In the attached note, we do not yet make substantive comments on the actual content of the Special Status provisions, to which a detailed publication will be published later in this Project. However, this note treats an even more preliminary question which goes to the legal and constitutional validity of the Special Status, namely what degree of legitimacy and approval it obtained from the concerned or beneficiary Regions.
Based on comparative experience on the setting up of Special Status regions around the world (and notably in France, Italy, Malaysia, Indonesia, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, and Finland), we conclude that a Special Status arrangement cannot have legal effect and validity unless the institutions and authorities of the beneficiary Region formally and structurally participate in its drafting and validation, and also are given rights as to its future amendment. In order to be valid, the Special Status needs an unequivocal indication of assent by the representatives of the concerned Region.
It is possible that once set up, the relevant Regional institutions may validate the Special Status through a process free of duress, that does not call into question their right to consent freely. However, we note the strong objections that were raised regarding the Bill and its accompanying Bill on Official Languages by elected representatives of the 2 Regions, including among MPs and Senators of the ruling party.
We therefore conclude that the global requirement that Special Status arrangements should obtain the formal assent and approval of elected representatives of the concerned Region is based on a sound constitutional wisdom: the said Status should be the outcome of a negotiated consensus between national authorities, and the institutions and leadership (elected representatives) of the Region, instead of being voted on the basis of a nationwide majority, and adopted notwithstanding significant objections from the beneficiary Regions’ own elected representatives.
Sincere regards,
Author: Constitutional Options Project