Professor Danièle Darlan sits atop one of, if not the most influential institution in the country – the Constitutional Court of the Central African Republic (CAR). For three years, she has steered the establishment that will declare the outcome of the crucial, general elections in the country set to start on 27 December 2020.

“It is a difficult and delicate mandate. There are always people that are for or against any judicial decision,” explains the 68-year-old law professor animatedly, from behind her desk at the Court’s headquarters in Bangui. “Keeping a cool head in applying the law is paramount,” she adds with a quick smile.

An enduring affinity for the law

The law has been a constant feature of her 30-year educational career at the University of Bangui, although it is in the field of education that she found her inspiration to serve. To make her point, she paraphrases a quote she once heard about how all whoever wants to destroy a country ever needs to do is “kill education”. Education is a path she has clearly pursued diligently. She describes herself first and foremost as a teacher, then “as someone who deeply loves her country; someone who wants to serve the Central African people”. She pursued five years of graduate studies in France to become a judge, where she obtained a doctorate in law. It was her affinity for the law that led her to one her country’s foremost judicial institution – no mean feat in a country where women continue to be chronically underrepresented in the corridors of power. She was no stranger to the ins and outs of the Court when she took over the reins of the judicial body, having served as its vice-president between 2013-2017.

Her legal prowess notwithstanding, she is quick to confess that donning her magistrate’s robe in her role as president of the Court never fails to remind her of the weight of the position – leading a team of judges responsible for judicial opinions with far-reaching implications. “The Constitutional Court is a high court that deals with questions related to the Constitution. Whenever members of parliament pass a law, we check that it does not violate the Constitution. We also make judgements on cases of institutional conflict – an important power to promote cohesion in the country,” she says. Anyone may bring a case to the Court which also has the authority to examine potential violations of the Constitution on its own accord, as was the case with respect to the Law on Gender.

Gender equality in elections: a big challenge

Perhaps one of the most significant recent judgements made by the court was on the issue of gender. “A year ago, we looked into whether the law on gender parity that was adopted by parliamentarians to include a 35-percent quota of women on all political parties’ candidate lists was in conformity with the Constitution. There were no provisions on promoting women electorate or candidates in the CAR Electoral Code.” She explains that the Court would have had to “disqualify all the political parties as none of them met this requirement”. The institution sent the text back to the lawmakers for correction. The removal of the quota was seen as a serious setback to women’s increased political participation in the CAR, not least among women’s rights civil society activists, some of whom had received the support of MINUSCA, the United Nations Mission in the CAR, in advocating for change.

Judicial considerations are, however, by no means, the only stumbling blocks to women’s ascension to positions of leadership. Professor Darlan reveals that several female candidates withdrew their candidacy due to not having sufficient financial means to run campaigns, and even where political parties offered to foot the bill, social-cultural barriers stood in their way. She recounts the story of an irate husband to one of the female candidates who personally wrote to her to say that he would never allow his wife to be a candidate and that if she did insist on standing for election, he would divorce her. On the upside, the professor stresses that there are more women within political party ranks today, something she sees as a mark of progress. Perhaps because more and more girls are increasingly enrolled in school and more women are becoming aware of their rights.

Limited access of women to education: a personal failure

There can be no mistaking the fact that Professor Darlan is a trailblazer in the Central African Republic – as the first-ever woman to head the CAR Constitutional Court. Although it is in the field of education that she had most hoped to inspire more women and girls to follow in her footsteps. But after more than a half-century since the establishment of the University of Bangui, there are currently less than five female professors at the country’s sole university. “I feel like it is a personal failure,” she admits regretfully. “Maybe I inspired someone outside the university; maybe I was more an example for boys than girls.” She is quick to add that many current conditions do not favour girls’ higher education – such as responsibility for family and parents’ limited resources – and that this is where change needs to start.

Proud of progress made despite numerous huge challenges

Significantly, she declares that the major hurdles she has faced as president of the Constitutional Court are not because of her gender. “It is mostly about challenges facing the country and the mission we have to accomplish. It is imperative to remain neutral and not be drawn into politics. We are judges who deal with political issues and it is our duty to protect the Constitution and resist politicians’ attempts to pull us towards them or we would not be credible.” She touches on the Court’s recent disqualification of ineligible candidates from standing in the elections as an example.

She is especially proud of the cooperation that has been established with other constitutional courts in Africa during her tenure. “Across Africa, constitutional courts are starting to increasingly engage in dialogue as many of them are dealing with similar issues.” Her hope is that this kind of solidarity at the international level will prevail even beyond the expiration of her mandate in 2024. For the immediate future however, the 2020/2021 CAR elections loom large.

Elections - a very sensitive period in the history of the country

“Indications are that the upcoming elections will be the most difficult that the CAR has known as political actors, the Central African people, the government, the opposition, the international community and other stakeholders line up to defend their interests,” she says on the eve of the first-round of the elections. “Elections are a sensitive period in any country but especially in the Central African Republic with all the current security problems.”

From her vantage point at the top of the body that is poised to announce the new leaders of the CAR, she urges her fellow countrymen to have confidence in the Court: “It’s crucial that the CAR people choose their leaders through transparent, free and fair elections. The choice of Central Africans must be respected, and it is the role of the Court to ensure that.” The Constitutional Court is also charged with dealing with electoral disputes.

She has shattered glass ceilings in both her educational and law careers but will no doubt be feeling the weight of her role and the delicate mandate it involves come election day when the court is expected to declare the results of the polls, against the background of a tense political and security situation. “The Constitutional Court cannot be bought. There have been and will continue to be decisions against both political parties in power and the opposition, as long as they are in line with law,” she concludes with a determined air of optimism. Keeping a cool head will most certainly serve her well in honouring that noble but taxing duty.