The Constitution of the Third Republic was adopted on 26 December 1992. Legislative and presidential elections were held on 14 and 27 February 1993 and 27 March 1993. The judiciary is independent of the legislature and the executive. Judicial power is exercised by the Supreme Court, the courts and the tribunals. Justice in the national territory is administered on behalf of the people and with full respect for the rule of law and the rights and freedom of all citizens.
Judges are subject in the exercise of their functions only to the authority of the law.
The President of the Republic is the guarantor of the independence of judges. He is assisted by the Supreme Judicial Council. Niger, which gained independence in 1960, became a party to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1946 and to the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children in the 1990s, adopted by the World Summit for Children on 30 September 1990. Niger also inherited colonial legislation providing for the improvement of the status of children, such as a 1928 decree which is still in force and established special courts and a system of supervision for minors in the territories administered by the Ministry of French Overseas Territories. Other texts establishing machinery for the protection of minors have been adopted.