Legal Framework

Respect for Civil and Political Rights of Citizens and for International and Regional Commitments

Mozambique has signed or ratified all major treaties containing international and regional standards for elections of which the most relevant are the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the 1966 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the 1981 African Charter of Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) and its Protocol on the Rights of Women and the 2006 Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Further, Mozambique is politically committed to the 2002 African Union Declaration on Principles governing Democratic Elections in Africa, 2004 SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, 1997 SADC Declaration on Gender and Development and the 2007 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.

National Electoral Legislation

Since 2004 presidential and legislatives elections, the constitution was amended and new laws and regulations were adopted, namely in 2007, governing the electoral process and introducing several changes from previous elections. Therefore, the national legal framework for the upcoming elections includes a range of laws and deliberations issued by the National Electoral Commission which the most relevant are:

• 1990 Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique as amended;
• the law 7/2007 of 26 February as the electoral law;
• the law 8/2007 of 26 February as the law of the National Commission of Elections (CNE);
• the law 9/2007 of 26 February governing the voter registration process;
• the law 10/2007 of 5 June regarding the elections for the provincial assemblies;
• law 15/2009 of 9 April establishing the legal framework for the 2009 presidential, legislatives and provincial assemblies’ elections to take place simultaneously and presidential decree nº 1/2009;
• the law 6/2006 of 2 August and law 5/2008 of 9 July regarding the Constitutional Council.

Other previous laws still in effect are the law 7/1991 of 23 January on political parties, laws 9/1991 of 18 July and 7/2001 on freedom of association and demonstration.

Among the deliberations of the National Electoral Commission, the most relevant are the deliberation 108/CNE/2008 of 8 October establishing the regulations on the observation of the electoral process, deliberation 51/CNE/2008 of 4 July establishing regulations on the observation of the voter registration, deliberation 61/CNE/2009 of 26 de August establishing the regulations on the criteria for distribution of the public funding for the electoral campaign and lastly,  deliberation 10/CNE/2009 of 14 de May approving the procedures relating to candidate nomination for the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies’ elections as well as the deliberation 01/CC/2009 of 23 de April of the Constitutional Council on the demanded legal requirements for the candidates’ nomination for presidential elections.