In a document (available in Arabic) sent on 16 June 2016 to members of the Assembly of Representatives of the People, FIDH criticised this draft law which gave clemency, even impunity for the operators who illegally exploit these natural resources. FIDH indicated that the draft law violated several provisions of the Constitution, in particular Article 13 stating that, “Natural resources belong to the people of Tunisia. The state exercises sovereignty over them in the name of the people,”and that “Investment contracts related to these resources shall be presented to the competent committee of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People. The agreements concluded shall be submitted to the Assembly for approval.”This draft law facilitates illegal exploitation of the marble quarries and excludes the Assembly’s control over this important sector.
Tunisia: rejects the law permitting illegal mining of marble quarries
On 23 June 2016, the provisional body for controlling the constitutionality of draft legislation rejected the 2015 draft Law no. 57 on the regularisation of the illegal situation of the marble quarries located on private State property.