The conciliation requirement of freedom of opinion with public security order in francophone sub-Saharan Africa (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal) in the light of great contemporary democracies (Germany, France)

Abstract

The renewal of constitutionalism, initiated in the 1990’s in francophone sub-Saharan Africa,and the worldwide growing security threat reorient the issue of the relationships between freedom of opinion and public security order. The constitutional recognition of freedom of opinion requires that the exercise of this freedom be done according to substantive public policy, with, at the heart of this legalised policy, the safety of people, property and, by extension, national territory. This recognition demands that we question the conciliation of freedom of opinion with public security order in francophone sub-Saharan Africa (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal) in the light of the experience of great contemporary democracies (Germany, France). In this research, constitutional grounds support the conciliation requirement and its respect must be ensured by legal guarantees. However, conciliation finds its limits in the political, economic and social contingencies specific to the francophone sub-Saharan States of Africa. Indeed, in these countries where the rule of law is building up, the conciliation of two constitutional standards is uncertain, especially when one of them, freedom of opinion, can threaten political power whereas the other one, public security order, can become an excuse to limit the exercise of this freedom. The essay invites in fine to reconsider the conciliation of freedom of opinion with public security order as a new constitutional principle in francophone sub-Saharan Africa.