Law of Tunisia

The legal system of Tunisia is based on the French civil law system. Its judiciary includes a Supreme Court that carries out judicial review of legislative acts sitting in joint session, and a Constitutional Court established under the 2014 Constitution, whose twelve members serve nine year terms and must have at least twenty years of experience, two thirds of them specialists in law. Tunisia is the only Arab country to legally prohibit polygamy, a reform introduced by President Bourguiba in the 1956 Code of Personal Status, though the formal independence of the judiciary has been in question since President Kais Saied began consolidating power in 2021, a period that included the dismissal of members of the judiciary, and the Supreme Judicial Council remains chaired by the president of the republic.