Issue 291

This Law was passed by the House of Representatives on 19/6/2000 (Resolution No: GW/KF-11/133/2000) and the House of Elders on 8/7/200 (Resolution No: GG/jsl/KAL-11/G10217/2000); and the President signed it (Presidential Decree No: 26 of 2000) on 6/8/200. It came into force on the latter date.

The Republic of Somaliland shall have a general committee which is independent and which will have the responsibility for registering associations and approving political parties.

COMMITTEE : means the Committee for the Registration of Political Associations and the Approval of Parties.

REGION/DISTRICT : means the legally recognized regions/districts of the Republic of Somaliland.

THE LEGALLY RECOGNISED COUNCILS: means the Constitutional councils of the Republic of Somaliland, which are:

ASSOCIATION/ASSOCIATIONS : means a unit of politically organized section of the society which has been registered for participating in the local government elections prior to its recognition as a political party.

PARTY/PARTIES : means party/parties which have been approved for participation in the general elections of the Parliament and those of the President and the Vice-president.

FOREIGNER : means any person who is not a patrial [3] of the Republic of Somaliland.

PUBLIC MEDIA : means radios, newspapers, cinemas, public assembly places and other information dissemination tools which are managed by the state.

PUBLIC ASSETS : means the movable or immovable assets of whatever form, which are owned by the state.

APPLICATION FORM : means the special form issued by the Committee, which sets out the information and particulars required of associations which apply for registration.

NATIONAL ELECTION : means the general election which will be contested by the three (3) national parties [4].

Election Campaign : means the activities of the associations/parties and candidates in competing for the understanding and support of the voters [The Presidential & Local Elections Law (Law No: 20/2001]

Any association seeking registration as a political association shall submit an application, in the prescribed form, to the Committee and shall enclose the following particulars and documents:

The date when and the place where the association held its first founder’s meeting.
The list of the names of the founders of the association (the executive Committee [ 16] and the methods of election of the officers.
The structure of the Association showing the full name of the Association, its written abbreviation, symbol and acronym.
Proof of full payment of the non-refundable deposit of Sl.Sh. 5,000,000 (five million).
Proof that the association has functioning branches and that it has registered at least 500 (five hundred) members in every region [19].
The rules of every political association/party shall show clearly adherence to (the principles of) democracy, power-sharing and decision-making from the bottom and not from the top.
Every association (party) shall submit to the committee 10 printed copies of its rules and the details of its addresses in all the regions and districts of the country.
The rules of every association/party shall conform to the provisions of the Constitution and the other laws of the Republic of Somaliland.
No party/association shall pass false or inaccurate information to the Committee.
No rules of the parties shall include a provision or provisions which are contrary to the Constitution or Islamic Sharia.
No association/party shall receive financial support from foreign sources, which it can use for its functions or political activities.
No association/party shall use or utilize for its own electoral activities the Somaliland public [25] resources.
No association/party shall use armed [26] groups or forces for the furtherance of its own interests.
The three associations which gain in the local election 20% of all the votes cast in every region shall be recognized as a national political party, and shall be issued with a certificate of recognition as a national party.
If no political association gains 20% (of the votes), the Committee shall recognize as political parties the three associations which have gained the highest number of votes cast in the elections in the regions of the country.
If the number of votes cast for two or more associations are equal, the election shall be staged again [23] at a time set by the Government [24].

Under Article 6 of the Organization of the Judiciary Law 2004, the Constitutional Court consists of the Chairman and all the judges of the Supreme Court and shall consider all issues as a full bench. The court has the exclusive jurisdiction to decide on any suits from interested parties relating to decisions of the Executive and the Legislative branches of the state, which are considered to be unconstitutional; and to interpret the provisions of the Constitution and other laws, over which there may be a conflict.