Tunisian judges accuse government of ignoring separation of powers and the law

The Tunisian Association of Magistrates accused President Kais Saied’s government on Wednesday of suspending judges and withholding their salaries because they refused to follow Justice Ministry “instructions” in their rulings. The association said those instructions contradicted judicial independence and the separation of powers.

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The government’s measures violate constitutional and international guarantees against dismissing judges and litigants’ right to an independent court and an impartial judiciary.

In a statement, the group said the government’s measures violated constitutional and international guarantees against dismissing judges, as well as litigants’ right to an independent court and an impartial judiciary. It pointed to recent cases involving irregular transfer orders, blocked written correspondence and, in more serious cases, suspensions “without any justification.”

The association said the measures targeted judges’ freedom of expression, organization and professional activism. It also recalled that its president, Anas Hamadi, received a one-year prison sentence with immediate effect in April, after proceedings that it said failed to meet minimum fair-trial standards. The case began in 2022, when Hamadi called a strike against Saied’s decree dismissing 57 judges.

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Without any justification.

The group described that case as a dangerous precedent, saying judges had not previously faced proceedings because of their union or association activity. It cited repeated calls from the International Association of Judges and the UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, for Tunisia to respect international standards. The association said suspensions communicated verbally, without written records or criminal proceedings, could become indefinite and amount in practice to disguised dismissals.

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The government must immediately stop its interference.