General Regulations of the Provisional Electoral Council (arrêté of 18 January 2008)

The arrêté of 18 January 2008 revising the general regulations of the Conseil Électoral Provisoire, signed by President René Préval on the report of the Ministers of the Interior and of Justice after deliberation in the Council of Ministers. The regulations set the rules governing how the CEP operates pending the establishment of a permanent electoral institution, and their stated purpose is effective management of the electoral process, in particular by clarifying the responsibilities of the nine council members within the administrative structure as against those of the officials who assist them and run the institution's organs.

A council member must be Haitian, at least forty years old, in full enjoyment of civil and political rights, never convicted of an afflictive and infamous penalty, and exclusively in the service of the electoral institution save for teaching. Before their mandate ends, members must produce a formal evaluation of how the electoral process ran, for transmission to the authorities, and see to the upkeep of the institution's property until formal handover. The Council's attributions include drafting the electoral bill for the executive, enforcing electoral law, preparing offenders' files for the competent court, organizing the electoral tribunals that hear challenges, running voter education and keeping the process archives; its obligations include impartiality towards the branches of the State, parties and candidates, facilitating national and international observation, and working towards an electoral security plan. Later CEP instruments cite this text as the arrêté of 18 January 2008, which is how its date is fixed.