Libya · Legislation
Legislation and primary sources
Where to find the authoritative text of the law in Libya, and how to confirm it is still in force.
Sources of law, ranked
- Constitutional Declaration 2011
- Interim; a permanent constitution drafted in 2017 was never put to referendum.
- Civil Code 1954
- Modelled on the Egyptian code; still the formal law of obligations.
- Islamic law
- Declared a principal source of legislation; personal status is administered on that basis.
- Legislation
- Enacted by competing bodies since 2014, so validity depends on which authority is recognised.
- Gaddafi-era statutes
- Substantially unrepealed and partly still applied where nothing has replaced them.
The legislative process
There is no single functioning legislative process. The House of Representatives passes laws that the High Council of State contests, and the rival administrations issue decrees within their areas of control. Whether a given instrument is law therefore depends on which authority is recognised, which is exactly why this profile is marked as requiring research rather than described as settled.
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