Libya has been independent since 1951. It is not currently a fully functioning state. It has been in a state of civil war since 2011. Two governments have been competing for control of the state and parts of Libya are outside of either government’s control, with various Islamist, rebel, and tribal militias administering some cities and areas; variously supported by an array of foreign powers.
Transitional and competing governments have attempted to make new laws and repeal some old laws from the previous Ghaddafi era. It is not clear which of these new laws will be enforced in the future – and indeed given the lack of infrastructure, it is not even clear which laws have been properly passed and which laws have been repealed.
The Constitutional Declaration of 2011 was envisaged as an interim constitution. It has been amended on a number of occasions since it was first adopted.
There is a particular problem relating to laws passed by (at times overlapping) competing legislatures – the General National Congress between 2012 and 2016; and the House of Representatives since 2014. There are currently two competing constitutional judicial bodies in Libya – the Constitutional Chamber of the Libyan Supreme Court in Tripoli, and the Supreme Constitutional Court in Benghazi, which became operational in December 2025.
