Constitution of the Republic of Tunisia, 2022, Article 38 (Right to information and access to communication networks) and Article 37 (Freedom of expression)

The Constitution of the Republic of Tunisia of 2022, approved by referendum on 25 July 2022, promulgated on 17 August and entering into force on 16 August 2022, replaced the 2014 Constitution and concentrated power in the presidency. Within its bill of rights, Article 38 is the provision most directly relevant to digital rights: it provides that the State safeguards the right to information and the right of access to information, and that it endeavours to ensure the right of access to communication networks. The express reference to access to 'communication networks' is digital-specific language that meets the inclusion bar for a dedicated Digital Rights entry, continuing, in softer, best-efforts terms, the corresponding guarantee in Article 32 of the 2014 Constitution. Article 38 operates together with the Constitution's protection of freedom of opinion, thought and expression (Article 37), which provides that these freedoms may not be subject to prior censorship. The 2022 text thus retains, at the constitutional level, both a free-expression guarantee and a network-access guarantee. The practical significance of these guarantees is heavily qualified. Commentators (ARTICLE 19, Human Rights Watch, Access Now, the CPJ) note that the access-to-information right is weakly implemented and that the constitutional gains have been undercut by Decree-Law No. 2022-54 of 13 September 2022, enacted within weeks of the Constitution, which criminalises broadly defined online 'false news' and has been used against journalists, lawyers and critics. The constitutional access-to-networks guarantee is, moreover, framed only as a State endeavour, weaker than an enforceable subjective right. This entry records the constitutional layer; the operative criminal-content and surveillance regime is documented in the linked cybercrime instrument (Decree-Law 2022-54). Original language: Arabic (official); French/English translations consulted.

1. 1Article 38, the State safeguards the right to information and access to information, and endeavours to ensure the right of access to communication networks (digital-specific)
2. 2Article 37, freedom of opinion, thought and expression, without prior censorship
3. 3Continues, in best-efforts form, the access-to-networks guarantee of Article 32 of the superseded 2014 Constitution
4. 4Inclusion-bar basis: explicit 'access to communication networks' language
5. 5Guarantee framed as a State endeavour rather than an enforceable subjective right
6. 6In tension with Decree-Law 2022-54's 'false news' offence enacted weeks later