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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Cameroon's Emergency Powers: A Recipe for Constitutional Dictatorship? |
Author: | Fombad, Charles Manga |
Year: | 2004 |
Periodical: | East African Journal of Peace and Human Rights |
Volume: | 10 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 274-294 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Cameroon |
Subjects: | state of emergency legislation Politics and Government Law, Human Rights and Violence |
Abstract: | It is both common and desirable for modern States, even democratic ones, to adopt legislation that empowers the government to take swift and effective action in times of crisis. This unavoidably results in some form of dictatorial power. The constitutional entrenchment of emergency powers with adequate controls to guard against abuse is what makes such a dictatorship constitutional. Where there are inadequate controls to prevent any abuse of these emergency powers, this basically gives rise to unrestrained and arguably unconstitutional dictatorship. This paper analyses the post-1990 emergency regime in Cameroon in the light of contemporary developments. It contends that Cameroon's emergency legislation, taken as a whole, confers enough extraordinary powers to enable the President of the Republic to rule without reference to any constitutional or legal processes of control and oversight. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] |