Constitutional nature of the Libyan political agreement

Abstract

The constitutional nature of the Libyan Political Agreement (Skhirat Agreement) revolves around it being a transitional legal document created by the circumstances of political necessity to end the institutional division. This agreement derived its legitimacy from international recognition and Security Council resolutions, becoming a “parallel constitutional declaration” that was later incorporated into the core of the Libyan legal system through the tenth constitutional amendment. Despite the jurisprudential debate about its supremacy over the constitutional declaration issued in 2011, it represents the governing reference for the executive and legislative authorities in the preparatory stage. It is not a permanent constitution but a contractual framework that regulates sovereign powers until the adoption of the permanent constitution. Its distinctiveness lies in the fact that it is the product of a national consensus under international auspices, which gave it the character of legal and political obligation before the judiciary and the international community.