Transitional Constitution of South Sudan

The Transitional Constitution of South Sudan was ratified on 7 July 2011 and came into force on 9 July 2011, the country's independence day, replacing the 2005 Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan through a technical review that removed references to a united Sudan and recast regional institutions as those of a sovereign nation-state. It establishes a presidential system headed by a president who is head of state, head of government and commander in chief of the armed forces. It remains explicitly transitional: at independence the Minister of Legal Affairs stated that a second phase of constitutional review would begin afterward toward a permanent charter, and more than a decade later that permanent constitution has still not been completed.