Like other old French colonies, Mauritania adopted a constitution of the type “Veme French Republic” with an executive power which represents the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister and a legislature in the hands of a Bicameral Parliament, made up of the National Assembly and Senate.

Extracts of the Constitution:
First Title: General provisions and Fundamental Principles
Article First: Mauritania is an Islamique Republic, indivisible, democratic and social. The Republic ensures to all citizens without reference to origin, race, sex or social condition of equality in front of the law.
The law punishes any particularist propaganda of racial or ethnique nature

ART. 2: The people are the source of power.

National sovereignty belongs to the people; it is being expressed by the elected representatives and by way of referendum.

Neither part of the people nor no individual can impute this allot this. No partial or total surrender of sovereignty can be decided without the assent of the people.

ART.4: The law is the supreme expression of the will of the people. All are held to subject itself to it.

ART. 5: Islam is the religion of the people and the State.

ART.6: The national languages are Arabic, Poular, Soninké and Wolof; the official language is Arabic.

ART.10: the State guarantees to all the citizens public and individual freedoms, in particular:

• freedom to circulate and to live in any part of the territory of the republic;
• the freedom of entry and exit of the national territory;
• freedom of opinion and thought;
• freedom of expression;
• right to meet;
• right of association and freedom to adhere to any political or trade-union organization of their choice.
• freedom can be limited only by the law.

ART. 11: The political parties and political groups contribute to the formation and the expression of the political will. They are freely formed and carry on their activities under the condition of respecting the democratic principles and not attempting to circumvent by their goals or their action the national sovereignty or the territorial integrity with the Nation and the Republic. The law fixes the conditions for the creation, operation and dissolution of the political parties.

ART. 12: All the citizens can reach public functions and employment without other conditions that those fixed by the law.

ART. 13: All are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a regularly established jurisdiction.
No one can be procesuted, arrested, held or punished other than in cases determined by the law and according to the forms, which it prescribes.
Honor and privacy of the citizens, the inviolability of the human person, his residence and correspondence is guaranteed by the state.
Any form of moral or physical violence is proscribed.

ART.15: The right of ownership is guaranteed. The right to inheritance is guaranteed. The government can proceeded to expropriation only when the public good requires it and only after proper justice and compensation.
The law fixes the legal status of expropriation.

ART. 16: The State and society protect the family.

ART. 17: No one is supposed to be unaware of the law.

ART. 18: Every citizen has the duty to protect and safeguard the independence of the country, its sovereignty and the integrity of its territory.
Treason, espionage, the crossing over to the enemy like all infringements which can cause prejudice to the state are repressed with all the rigour of the law.

ART. 20: All citizens are equal in relation to taxation.
No taxes can be instituted other than under the terms of the law.

ART. 21: Any foreigner who is regularly on the national territory enjoys, for himself and his belongings the protection of the law.

ART. 22: No one can be extradited if it is not under the terms of the laws and conventions of extradition.