Article 1 of the constitution ordains Islam as the state religion, assures equality before the law, proclaims democracy and sovereignty, and establishes the official languages of French and Arabic.
Article 10 bans the death penalty; guarantees the rights to life, liberty, and personal security and integrity; requires statutory justification for prosecution; establishes the principal of innocent until proven guilty; guarantees the right to an attorney; and forbids detention without a judicial order.
Article 19 requires the government to protect Djiboutian citizens' legitimate rights and interests abroad.
[3] The president is elected to a five-year term, must be solely of Djiboutian nationality, and be between the age of forty and seventy-five years old on the deposit of candidature.
Elections take place between 30 and 40 days before the end of the current president's term.
When the vacancy is permanent, the president of the paramount Court fills the office, with a new election taking place between 30 and 45 days after the determination of the vacancy (the President of the Supreme Court is ineligible to run in this new election).
The President of the Republic is the commander in chief, issues pardons, can submit any bill to referendum, refers matters which he believes are unconstitutional to the Constitutional Court, is the head of state, and can issue emergency directives.
Any Djiboutian citizen of age (except certain government figures) may run for election to the National Assembly.
Title 6 governs international treaties and agreements, which are negotiated and signed by the President and ratified by the National Assembly.
Title 8 establishes the Constitutional Council, which wields judicial review.