Benin: Court validates the new constitution in all its provisions

The decision, made public on Friday 12 December 2025, puts an end to the many challenges sparked by this reform, which was adopted by the National Assembly on 14 November.

Seized both by the President of the Republic and by several petitioners, the high court was called upon to rule on the regularity of the procedure and on the content of the constitutional revision.

On one hand, the head of state had transmitted the text to the Court for review, in accordance with constitutional requirements. On the other, sixteen appeals had been filed by deputies of the party Les Démocrates and by citizens, who alleged procedural and substantive irregularities.

The petitioners specifically challenged the parliamentary procedure that led to the law’s adoption. They argued that the introduction of amendments between the consideration phase and the final vote did not comply with constitutional requirements.

Other complaints concerned the conduct of the vote, citing technical anomalies and inconsistencies in the counting of votes.

On the merits, the appeals also raised concerns related to national sovereignty and fundamental rights. The establishment of a political truce and the creation of a Senate were among the most contested points.

Some petitioners argued that setting up this new institution would create additional budgetary burdens contrary to constitutional principles, while others believed the revision affected provisions considered inviolable within the constitutional order.

Meeting in plenary session on 11 and 12 December, the president of the Court, Dorothé Sossa, and the six other judges examined all of these arguments. At the end of deliberations, the Court ruled that Law No. 2025-20 complied with the Constitution in all its provisions.

By its decision DCC 25-293, the high court dismissed all the appeals and definitively validated the reform.