The Status of Declarations of, conventions and Agreements on Rights in Law Sources in Kuwait, Egypt and France
Prof. Yousri Mohammad Al-Assar
Professor of Public law and Head of the Public Law Department – Kuwait International Law School
Abstract:
The title of this research reflects a trend from which – according to the constitutions in Kuwait, Egypt and France – the legal structure of the state is built, and which both authorities and individuals should abide by. The importance of this subject lies in the fact that static constitutions are more difficult to amend than other laws. The countries under study have this type of constitution. However, these three countries share the importance of the status of conventions, declarations and agreements regarding national and international rights on the one hand; and their agreements that the constitution enjoys superiority over all other sources of law, as it comes at the top of the legal hierarchy of the State, on the other.
There are many kinds of national and international rights conventions and declarations. In addition, these laws are different from each other regarding their legal importance. One example of declarations of national rights that enjoy constitutional value is: “The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, or Declaration of Human and Civic Rights” issued by the French Constituent Assembly after the 1789 revolution. Another example of a convention that has national constitutional value is the convention issued by King Louis XVIII of France in 1814; the convention that was issued in the form of a contract between King Louis Philippe and the Parliament in 1830; and the “Environment Charter” issued in France in 2005 after the amendments on the current constitution issued in 1958, in which the preamble of this constitution is included.