The Constitutional Declaration is the current supreme law of

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

, introduced due to the overthrow of the

Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

government in the Libyan Civil War. It was finalised on 3 August 2011 by the

National Transitional Council The National Transitional Council of Libya ( ar, المجلس الوطني الإنتقالي '), sometimes known as the Transitional National Council, was the ''de facto'' government of Libya for a period during and after the Libyan Civil War ...

, and is intended to remain in effect until a permanent constitution is written and ratified in a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

. The document was publicly announced at a press conference of 10 August by

Abdul Hafiz Ghoga Abdul Hafiz Ghoga (also known as Abdelhafed Abdelkader Ghoga, also spelled Ghogha; ar, عبد الحافظ غوقة; born 11 June 1957) is a Libyan human rights lawyer who rose to prominence as the spokesman for the National Transitional Counci ...

, Vice President and official spokesman of the NTC. The document consists of 37 articles in five sections. Articles 1–6 state general provisions regarding Libya as a state. Articles 7–15 specify civil rights and public freedoms. Articles 17–29 specify the operation of the interim government. Articles 30–32 guarantee an independent

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

. Articles 33–37 are "conclusive provisions". The Constituent Assembly of Libya was elected in 2014. It prepared the 2017 draft Libyan constitution which it approved by a two-thirds majority in July 2017.

Declaration of statehood and basic rights

Article 1 of the Constitutional Declaration describes the Libyan state as follows: *it is a

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

, wherein the people act as the source of political authorities * Tripoli is the State capital * Islam is the State religion *The Islamic Sharia is its principal source of legislation *the State grants the right of

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...

for non-Muslim minorities *

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

is the official language *The State protects the linguistic and cultural rights of all components of Libyan society Article 3 defines the

flag of Libya The national flag of Libya was originally introduced in 1951, following the creation of the Kingdom of Libya. It was designed by Omar Faiek Shennib and approved by King Idris Al Senussi who comprised the UN delegation representing the three re ...

. Article 4 declares the aim of establishing a democratic State based on a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...

. Article 6 describes the principle of rule of law taking precedence over tribal or personal loyalties, and the principle of non-discrimination and equal rights of all citizens regardless of religion, ethnicity or social status, and the guarantee of the state upholding

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

, granting full participation of women in politics, economy and the social sphere.

Provisions for the transitional phase

Article 30 of the document lays out a process for the drafting of a permanent constitution, with time limits for each section meaning that one should be in place by around December 2013 at the latest. The process has however been subject to several delays such as the postponement of the General National Congress election by a month, and the target for appointing a Constituent Assembly was missed due to political wrangling over the post of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. Article 29, repeated as article 33, contains the provision that no member of the National Transitional Council may nominate a candidate or themselves assume the position of President of the state, of a member of the legislative council, or of a ministerial portfolio.

Amendments

As of February 2022, there are 12 amendments to the Libyan interim Constitutional Declaration. The tenth amendment divides the country into three voting districts (

Tripolitania Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...

and

Fezzan Fezzan ( , ; ber, ⴼⵣⵣⴰⵏ, Fezzan; ar, فزان, Fizzān; la, Phazania) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ...

) for the upcoming referendum on the 2017 draft constitution by the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

. It was adopted by the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

on 26 November 2018. The twelfth amendment creates a 24-member committee divided equally between Libya's three historic regions to draft a new constitution, replacing the 2017 draft constitution. It was approved by the House of Representatives on 10 February 2022 after 126 out of "more than" 147 members present voted for the amendment. However, the High Council of State rejected the amendment by a vote of 51 out of 60 on 24 February.

Further constitutional steps

The Constituent Assembly of Libya of 20 members from each of

and

was elected in February 2014. The election was organised by the High National Election Commission (HNEC). In July 2017, the assembly finalised the 2017 draft Libyan constitution.

References

External links

PDF file published by the NTC in the High National Election Commission websiteOld unofficial English translationNewer version of the English translation
{{Authority control Government of Libya Provisional constitutions Constitutions of Libya The Libyan Constitutional Union