Constitution of Chad

Chad's current constitution was approved by referendum on 17 December 2023, with the yes vote winning 86 percent of ballots cast, and the Supreme Court of Chad validated the result on 28 December 2023. It replaced the 2018 constitution, which the Transitional Military Council had suspended in April 2021 after the death of President Idriss Deby, governing instead through a provisional charter under his son Mahamat Deby. The 2018 document had itself been Chad's eighth constitution since independence from France in 1960, establishing a full presidential system as the Fifth Republic and abolishing the office of prime minister. The 2023 constitution reintroduces a semi-presidential system, reduces the presidential term from six to five years, and establishes independent institutions including a National Election Management Agency and a Constitutional Council.