Administrative Grievance as a Safeguard for the Employee's Right to Leave for the Establishment of an Enterprise under Law 22-22

Abstract

Pursuant to Law 22-22, the Algerian legislator introduced a new type of leave for public employees, namely leave for the establishment of an enterprise, and regulated it in accordance with specific legal conditions and procedures under Executive Decree 23-09, within the framework of strengthening the constitutionally enshrined right and freedom of entrepreneurship. Given the powers vested in the employing administration vis-à-vis the employee when exercising the right to such leave, which places the employee in an unequal relationship with the administration, the law established an important safeguard for employees against these powers, namely the prior administrative grievance, as a mechanism for activating the administration's internal self-review. This mechanism offers several advantages, the most important of which is that it provides an amicable means of resolving disputes with the administration in this regard, thereby protecting employees from lengthy litigation procedures and the burden of their costs. However, despite the legislative recognition of this mechanism within the framework of the employee's right to leave for the establishment of an enterprise, its provisions still require more precise regulation and clarification by the legislator, given that their application reveals gaps, omissions, and legal issues that need to be addressed.