Council of State (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

The Council of State (French: Conseil d'État) is the supreme administrative court of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the highest jurisdiction within the country's administrative judicial order. Before the establishment of the Council of State, the Constitutional Court, and the Court of Cassation, the Supreme Court of Justice, which was created by Ordinance-Law No. 82-017 of 31 March 1982 and governed judicial procedure, exercised supreme judicial authority under the Transitional Constitution and other earlier constitutional frameworks, with judicial power administered by courts and tribunals operating under its leadership.

The Constitution of 18 February 2006 introduced a major institutional reform by establishing two distinct judicial orders, the judicial order and the administrative order, alongside an autonomous Constitutional Court, with each order headed by a supreme jurisdiction: the Court of Cassation for the judicial order and the Council of State for the administrative order. Pending the full operationalization of the new courts, Organic Law No. 13/011-B of 11 April 2013 provided that the Supreme Court of Justice would continue to function in its existing structure until the Council of State became operational in June 2018 following a presidential decree that dissolved the former Supreme Court of Justice.

The Council of State exercises judicial and consultative functions, such as adjudicating disputes involving public administrative authorities, while also providing technical legal advice to the executive and legislative branches through distinct and autonomous sections, each with its own jurisdiction and composition. Within this framework, the consultative section works as a legal advisory body to Parliament and the Government, while the administrative section performs primarily judicial functions and, secondarily, advisory ones. The Council of State has jurisdiction, at first and final instance, to hear applications alleging violations of the law against regulatory acts and decisions adopted by central administrative authorities; to hear appeals against rulings delivered by the administrative courts of appeal; and to adjudicate claims for compensation seeking redress for exceptional material or moral damage caused by measures taken or ordered by national, provincial, or local authorities, where no other court has jurisdiction.