Human Rights Solidarity calls on the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity to comply with the decision of the Supreme Court

Human Rights Solidarity (HRS) calls on Mr. Abdul Hamid DBAIBA, Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision[1] to reject the appeal submitted by his office against the ruling issued by the Third Administrative Circuit of the Tripoli Court of Appeal on the unconstitutionality of the Council of Ministers Resolution No. (107) of 2021, which transferred the subordination of the Libyan Asset Recovery and Management Office (LARMO) from the Presidential Council to the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister’s Decree No. (122) of the same year appointing a Director General of the office mentioned above.

According to the Supreme Court’s decision, the prime minister must implement the Tripoli Court of Appeals ruling and immediately dissolve the parallel office. The continued disregard of the court’s ruling by the director and the employees of the parallel office, dissolved by the court’s ruling, is considered a crime of impersonating a public official punishable under Libyan law[2].

On December 27, 2021, HRS issued a statement[3] regarding the arrest of the Director of LARMO, Mr Anwar Lotfi ARIF, in which it called on the Attorney General’s Office to release him and refer the investigation procedures, regarding the administrative and legal actions he took, to the Administrative Control Authority, which is the competent authority to perform such investigation. HRS also called on the Presidential Council to investigate the insistence of the Prime Minister to enforce his decision regarding the transfer subordination of LARMO to him personally, despite the request of the Administrative Control Authority to withdraw the decision, which it described as invalid.

Mr Arif was released on February 16, 2022, after almost two months of arbitrary detention, without conditions or charges. Due to the illegality of the decision to establish the parallel office, Mr Arif, and members of the Board of Directors of LARMO, filed a complaint before the Tripoli Court of Appeal, the Third Administrative Circuit, against the Council of Ministers Resolution No. (107) of 2021. 

In the session held on February 7, 2022, the Tripoli Court of Appeal, the Third Administrative Circuit, decided in Administrative Appeal No. 256 of 2021 to cancel the contested decision due to its issuance by an incompetent government body. The Prime Minister did not accept the Court of Appeal’s ruling, which he described as an infringement of his authority, and filed an appeal before the Supreme Court.

After hearing the grounds of appeal against the Court of Appeal’s ruling, and after reviewing the documents and hearing the oral pleading, the Supreme Court decided on November 17, 2022, to reject the appeal filed by the Prime Minister’s Office. Thus, the Council of Ministers Resolution No. (107) of 2021, as well as the Prime Minister’s Resolution No. (122) of the same year are considered unconstitutional decisions as if they were not.

Therefore, we demand that the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, and his ministers, must comply with the Supreme Court’s decision and accept the legal fact that the resolutions issued to annex LARMO are illegal. Consequently, the parallel office must be dissolved, and it should not be permitted to carry out any work related to State funds. In addition, the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity should reinstate the old legitimate management of LARMO and allow it to carry out its work as stipulated by law. Furthermore, the Prime Minster should not interfere with LARMO’s employees, obstruct their work, or prevent them from carrying out their duties.

The continued refusal of the Council of Ministers and the Prime Minister, Mr. Dbaiba, to comply with the court’s ruling is a crime under the Libyan Penal Code[4] and exposes them to imprisonment and discharge.

HRS also calls on the European Union Mission to Libya and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research[5] to respect the rulings of the Libyan judiciary and condemns the continuation of the Mission and the Institute in dealing with the dissolved office despite a ruling last February by the Tripoli Court of Appeal. Even after the Supreme Court’s decision to reject the appeal against the Court of Appeal’s ruling, these bodies continued to deal with representatives of the dissolved office[6].

Lastly, we commend the rulings of the Court of Appeal as well as the Supreme Court, which enshrined the principle of the rule of law and demanded respect for it and for carrying out its tasks entrusted to it by the Libyan people to preserve justice and respect the laws.

Human Rights Solidarity Organization

Tripoli, Libya

[1] Attached to the statement is a copy of the decision of the Administrative Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Court (No. 223/69) and a copy of the judgment of the Third Administrative Circuit of the Tripoli Court of Appeal (No. 256 of 2021 AD). (in Arabic).

[2] DCAF – Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance: “Libyan Penal Code”. Article 250: “Usurpation of Capacities or Offices: Anyone who usurps the functions of a public office, whether civil or military, or performs or practices the requirements thereof without having official capacity or permission from the government, shall be punished by detention for a period not exceeding two years. The same penalty shall apply to a public official who continues to perform his office or to practice the requirements thereof after he has been notified of his removal or suspension. The sentence issued shall be published in the newspapers”. Article 355: “Impersonation of an Individual: Anyone who, for the purpose of obtaining a benefit for himself or for another, deceives another by impersonating another person, or attributes to himself or to another a false name or capacity, or a capacity that entails legal effects, shall be punished by detention for a period not exceeding one year, unless such act constitutes a more serious offence against public trust”.

[3] Libya Al-Ahrar TV: “Solidarity calls for the release of the director of the Asset Recovery Office”, 27 December 2021.

[4] DCAF – Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance: “Libyan Penal Code“. Article (234): “Abuse of Office that is Detrimental to the Interest of Public Administration or the Judiciary: Any public official who abuses the authority of his office in order to stay the execution of orders issued by the government, or laws or regulations in force, or to delay the collection of legally prescribed monies or fees or the execution of any court ruling or order, or any order issued by the competent authority shall be punished by detention and removal from office. The same penalty shall be imposed on any public official who intentionally refrains from executing a ruling or order of the foregoing after ten days have passed from his being warned by a bailiff if the execution of the order or ruling enters within his competencies.”

[5] The account of the dissolved office on Facebook: “In the implementation of the components of the approved training plan for the Libyan Asset Recovery and Management Office LARMO for the year 2022-2023 and the instructions from the Director General, Mohamed Ramadan, last Wednesday [November 23, 2022] at the headquarters of the LARMO office in Tripoli, a memorandum of understanding was signed Between the office and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research UNITAR”, November 26, 2022, (link).

[6] Libyan News Agency: “The Libyan Asset Recovery and Management Office held discussions with representatives of the European Union regarding mechanisms for recovering Libyan assets held abroad”, November 26, 2022.