State in Benin

Benin’s system of government is based on the Constitution of 1990, Constitutional Amendment 2019-40 and Constitutional Law 2025-20. The Constitution protects rights and freedoms and assigns state responsibilities to the executive, legislature and judiciary. Since the election of 12 April 2026, Romuald Wadagni has been President of the Republic; Mariam Chabi Talata is Vice-President. The president is head of state and government, leads the executive, determines policy, issues regulations, commands the armed forces and is responsible for national defence. The government works through the Council of Ministers (Conseil des Ministres) and is appointed by the president after consultation with the Bureau of the National Assembly. Parliament consists of the National Assembly (Assemblée nationale) and the Senate (Sénat). The tenth legislative term began on 8 February 2026. The Senate was created by Constitutional Law 2025-20 and has 25 senators; its first term began on 30 July 2026. For certain laws, it may request a second reading; exceptions include finance laws, rules of procedure and programme laws. The National Assembly and Senate pass laws and oversee the government. The Constitutional Court (Cour constitutionnelle) is the highest constitutional court. It reviews laws, protects fundamental rights and decides disputes between state bodies. Citizens may refer matters directly to it or raise a constitutional exception (exception d’inconstitutionnalité) in proceedings. The deadline for constitutional review is 30 days; in cases alleging a violation of fundamental rights, the deadline is eight days. The Supreme Court (Cour suprême) is the highest court for administrative and judicial matters, reviews the legality of state administration and decides, among other matters, disputes concerning local elections. Its decisions are final. The independent Court of Auditors (Cour des comptes) audits and adjudicates public finances. The High Court of Justice (Haute Cour de Justice) deals with the responsibility of senior members of the executive, while a special national jurisdiction (CRIET) handles, among other matters, economic offences and terrorism. The prefect (préfet) is the government’s sole representative in the department. The prefect exercises state supervision over municipalities. Territorial administration and decentralization fall under the Ministry of Decentralization and Local Governance (Ministère de la Décentralisation et de la Gouvernance Locale). In each municipality, the communal council (conseil communal), supervisory council (conseil de supervision) and mayor work at the political level with the executive secretariat (secrétariat exécutif) on the administrative and technical level. Municipalities have their own budgets; their legal category may be special status, intermediate or ordinary (statut particulier, intermédiaire, ordinaire). Ministries, prefectures, municipalities and decentralized state services carry out administrative tasks locally. The National Portal of Public Services (Portail National des Services Publics) brings together government information and electronic services and is available around the clock. The National Agency for the Identification of Persons (Agence Nationale d’Identification des Personnes) (ANIP) operates under the supervision of the president and handles identity and civil-status matters. It provides, among other things, a national identification number (NPI) or FID, birth, marriage and death certificates, and certificates of residence. The documents are subject to fees; telecommunications costs are excluded. After confirmed payment, a document is usually available for download immediately. Biometric cards and corrections require manual review and may therefore take different amounts of time. Users can view official applications, track their processing status and report problems. The financial year runs from 1 January to 31 December. The Ministry of the Economy and Finance (Ministère de l’Économie et des Finances) and the General Directorate of the Budget (Direction Générale du Budget) prepare the draft budget approximately eight months before the start of the financial year; Parliament then votes on the finance law. The initial budget for 2026 amounted to 3,783.984 billion FCFA. On 3 June 2026, a supplementary budget with a proposed total volume of 4,086.620 billion FCFA, around eight percent more, was submitted. The adoption of this supplementary budget cannot be confirmed from the official sources consulted. The citizen budget portal (Budget citoyen) and budget-information service (BousProB) provide budget documents, information and ways to submit feedback. State oversight is distributed among several bodies. Parliament oversees the government, the Constitutional Court reviews constitutional matters, the Court of Auditors oversees public revenue and expenditure, and the Supreme Court reviews the legality of administration. The High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (Haute Autorité de l’Audiovisuel et de la Communication, HAAC) regulates media and audiovisual services, issues licences and accreditations, and accepts complaints. Laws, decrees, regulations and reports of the Council of Ministers are published by the General Secretariat of the Government (Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement). The president commands the armed forces and national defence. The Ministry of the Interior and Public Security (Ministère de l’Intérieur et de la Sécurité publique) plans internal security, public order, civil protection, civil-status administration, integrated border management and measures against radicalization and terrorism. The Republican Police (Police républicaine) protects the population and public order; customs, defence and security forces carry out further duties. Security at the northern borders is particularly relevant for Atacora, Alibori and Donga. The police can be reached free of charge around the clock on 117; the documented reporting channel 166 is used, among other things, for complaints about police misconduct. State bodies must respect constitutional rights, data protection and the right to access and correct personal data. Users must comply with legal requirements and provide truthful identity and application data to administrative offices. French shapes public administration, and digital services do not reach everyone equally.