Legal committee deems Council decrees unconstitutional

The Legal Advisory Committee of Libya’s House of Representatives has issued a statement rejecting the Presidential Council’s issuance of decree-laws, declaring they have no constitutional or legal basis.

The committee states that the presidential decrees were issued outside Libya and without proper meetings of the full Presidential Council, constituting what they describe as a violation of both the Council’s internal regulations and national sovereignty.

According to the statement, the Seventh Constitutional Amendment of 2014 postponed the election of a president and assigned sovereign powers to the House of Representatives until a legitimate president could be elected. The committee emphasises that this amendment did not grant the Presidential Council any legislative authority.

The committee further notes that both the Skhirat and Geneva Agreements specifically limited the Presidential Council’s powers to administrative tasks without conferring legislative or presidential powers.

The committee has declared the presidential decrees invalid due to the absence of constitutional or legal texts authorising their issuance by any entity other than the legislative authority.

These decrees have been referred to judicial authorities for review and to determine whether they constitute criminal offences or threaten the unity or integrity of the state.

The committee reaffirmed the House of Representatives’ position that the Presidential Council’s term has expired and it is ineligible to continue performing its duties.

It called for adherence to the consensual political process and acceleration of steps to unify the executive branch, leading to presidential and parliamentary elections.

According to the information provided, Presidential Council Chairman Mohamed Al-Menfi has referred minutes of a meeting regarding a second batch of presidential decrees to Representatives Al-Koni and Al-Lafi for signature.

On 30 April, the Presidential Council issued a decree repealing the House of Representatives’ law establishing a Supreme Constitutional Court in Benghazi, stating that the Presidential Council would assume powers to issue necessary decisions to protect the political process and ensure compliance with final judicial rulings issued by the Supreme Court.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​