Political Risk:
Critical
Score:
12/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
25/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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Theoretically, the Algerian parliament has the right to control the defence policy as laid down in Art. 113 of the constitution, which states that…
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In practice, Algeria’s parliament rarely questions the executive’s legislative proposals, and so the executive branch remains the most powerful, according to a report of…
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Due to the close relationship between the two dominant political parties (FLN and RND), the president (from 1999 until 2019 Abdelaziz Bouteflika), and the…
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Q2
0/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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According to the law establishing the organization and functioning of the parliament, there is a National Defence Committee that is responsible for matters relating…
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Since the National Defence Committee has no formal power to oversee national defence issues (1 and 2, and see the answer to question 2A),…
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Since the National Defence Committee has no formal power to oversee national defence issues (1 and 2, and see the answer to question 2A),…
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Since the National Defence Committee has no formal power to oversee national defence issues (1), (2), see the answer to question 2A, the question…
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Since the National Defence Committee has no formal power to oversee national defence issues (1), 2, and see the answer to question 2A), the…
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Since the National Defence Committee has no formal power to oversee national defence issues (1), (2), and see the answer to question 2A), the…
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Q3
8/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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There are former individuals of the Algerian government, the Deputy Defence Minister and the former Foreign Minister, who have issued statements about security matters.…
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As there is no public debate on defence policy, this indicator has been marked Not Applicable. Statements from the Algerian government on defence and…
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No evidence could be found that there is a formal consultation process involving the public. For example, the Open Budget Service scores Algeria 0…
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No formal or genuine document on Algeria’s defence policy or national security strategy could be found during the research. The website of the defence…
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Q4
8/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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No evidence could be found that there is a formal or informal policy that requires openness towards civil society organization in the defence sector.…
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The space for civil society organizations in Algeria is limited. The freedom of non-governmental organizations is scored 1 out of 4 by Freedom House.…
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There is evidence that civil society actors requested to work with state authorities in regards to anti-corruption in general but not the defence sector…
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Q5
75/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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According to SIPRI’s Arms Transfers Database, Algeria has not been a significant defence exporter between 2015 and 2017. Algeria signed the UNCAS on December…
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A UNCAC report of 2016 outlines (1) what Algeria had done to address recommendations of the first review report, which was done in 2014…
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Q6
25/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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Outside the government, there is an occasional and superficial public debate in the media about defence issues. Freedom of expression with regards to national…
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There is evidence that the Algerian government engages in public discourse, but only one way. Journalists report that security officers approach journalists, but it…
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Q7
25/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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Algeria has an official anti-corruption policy, but it is unclear whether it applies to the defence sector. There is also no evidence that the…
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It is unclear whether Algeria’s anti-corruption policy applies to the defence sector, and no action plan could be found on the Ministry of Defence…
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Q8
0/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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No information could be found on whether there is a unit within the defence and security sector that is missioned to fight corruption and…
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Since no institution is explicitly mandated to counter corruption in the defence sector, no assessment on independence can be made and the indicator is…
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Since no institution is explicitly mandated to counter corruption in the defence sector, no assessment on independence can be made and the indicator is…
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Q9
NA/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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Q10
0/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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There is no evidence that a defence-specific assessment of corruption has been commissioned since the last assessment of the country, which came to the…
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No assessment on the regularity is therefore possible and the answer is scored “Not Applicable.” There is no evidence that a defence-specific assessment of…
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No assessement on inputs to anti-corruption policy is therefore possible and the answer is scored “Not Applicable.” There is no evidence that a defence-specific…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
0/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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No information on a defined process for acquisition planning was found during the research. There is no clear defence strategy published, for example, on…
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Since there is no defined process for acquistion planning, this sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable. No information on the acquisition planning process could…
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Since there is no defined process for acquistion planning, this sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable. No information on external oversight of the acquisition…
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Q12
25/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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The finance laws only list the topline figures for the defence budget, it is not broken down into functions or areas (1), (2), (3).…
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Based on publicly available information, the Algerian parliament receives a proposal on the general budget about three months before the beginning of the budget…
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Q13
0/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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No information could be found on whether the defence commission has the formal right to scrutinize the decision-making process on the defence budget. According…
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In light of the fact that no information could be found on whether the Defence Commission has the formal right to influence the decision-making…
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Q14
8/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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The government proactively publishes the finance law including an aggregated figure for the defence budget at the beginning of a fiscal year (1), (2),…
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No information could be found during the research on how the defence budget breaks down. The finance laws do not provide any information on…
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Given the scare information on the defence budget as outlined in 14A and 14B, it seems very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain any…
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Q15
0/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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No publication on other defence income was found during the research, for example, on the Ministry of Defence website (1). Newspaper reports are claiming…
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There is no specific information on institutional scrutiny of defence income that is not from the central government. The military operates in a very…
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Public scrutiny of defence income other than from central government seems to be minimal. Media reports on the military’s economic activities do not provide…
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Q16
0/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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No information could be found on whether the Defence Ministry audits its expenditures internally, which was also the result of the country’s last assessment…
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because no information could be found on whether the defence ministry audits its expenditures internally, i.e., on…
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because no information could be found on whether the defence ministry audits its expenditures internally, i.e., on…
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because no information could be found on whether the defence ministry audits its expenditures internally, i.e., on…
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Q17
0/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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There is evidence that there is little external auditing of military defence expenditures, although the audit unit has a formal mandate to review all…
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Although the Court of Auditors is formally independent according to the Algerian constitution (Art. 196), (1), its independence is limited. Law No. 80-05/1980 puts…
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The annual reports of the Court of Auditors for the years 2015-2018 could not be found online (1). Only the annual reports of 1995…
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There are strong indications that the Ministry of Defence fails to address the audit findings. According to media reports on the annual report, the…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
10/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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There is evidence that individuals of the armed forces are prohibited from having control over or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s…
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Defence institutions are likely to have financial and controlling interests in businesses associated with Algeria’s natural resources and considering the answer to question 18A,…
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As has been outlined in the country’s last assessment (4) and in the answers to question 18A and 18B, financial and controlling interests of…
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No evidence could be found that interests of the defence institution and individuals are publicly declared and transparent. Information found on the economic activities…
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No evidence could be found that either parliament (1) (2) or the Court of Auditors (3) scrutinize these interests.
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Organised Crime
Q19
25/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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Generally, it is very difficult to find information on the penetration of organised crime in the military and the security sector. See also the…
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No information could be found that the government has publicly spoken about the possibility that organized crime has penetrated the defence sector. Deputy Minister…
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Q20
33/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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There is some evidence that there is policing to investigate corruption and organized crimes within the defence services. According to the Military Code of…
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According to Art. 44 of the Military Panel Code, the Military Judiciary Police falls under the authority of the Minister of Defence, which does…
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It is difficult to find information that allows for the assessment of the effectiveness of the legal provisions. There is a case of five…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
0/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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There is no independent body, which oversees the policies, administration, and budget of the intelligence services. Since there is very little information about the…
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The sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because there is no independent body, which oversees the policies, administration, and budget of the intelligence services…
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Q22
0/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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Because the Direction of Security Services (DSS) was established by an unpublished presidential decree in 2016 (1), it is not possible to know whether…
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From what is known about the intelligence services, senior positions seem to be chosen based on political loyalty. The patronage method of the Algerian…
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Given the secrecy of the intelligence services in Algeria (1), there is no information available of whether there is an internal vetting process. According…
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Export Controls
Q23
0/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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Algeria has not signed the ATT (1). According to the SIRPI Arms Transfers database, Algeria has not significantly exported arms (2).
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because Algeria has not signed the ATT (1). According to the SIRPI Arms Transfers database, Algeria has…
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This sub-indicator has been scored ‘Not Applicable’ as SIPRI has not recorded any arms exports from Algeria since 2015.
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Lobbying in Defence
No evidence could be found that law regulates the lobbying of defence institutions in Algeria. Research also did not find any general laws on…
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because no evidence could be found that law regulates lobbying of defence institutions in Algeria, for example,…
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because no evidence could be found that law regulates lobbying of defence institutions in Algeria, for example,…
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This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because no evidence could be found that law regulates lobbying of defence institutions in Algeria, for example,…
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