Libya’s Rival Courts Deepen Political and Electoral Deadlock

Libya’s political division has reached the courts, where rival institutions are claiming constitutional authority and issuing decisions that conflict across the country. The result is more than a dispute over individual rulings: it is an institutional crisis that makes it harder to know which decisions should govern nationwide.

The dispute matters because Libya’s eventual national elections will require an accepted legal framework, unified public institutions and a trusted body capable of resolving constitutional and electoral challenges. The United Nations has warned that the judicial split could affect elections, governance, the economy, security and human rights.

How the parallel courts emerged

Libya’s Supreme Court in Tripoli has historically included the country’s Constitutional Chamber, which served as the highest constitutional judicial body. But the House of Representatives established a Supreme Constitutional Court in Benghazi in 2023. That court became functional in December 2025 and began operating alongside the Tripoli-based chamber.

The Benghazi court’s status is contested. It is not universally recognized as Libya’s highest constitutional authority, and both institutions have asserted exclusive jurisdiction over constitutional questions.

Conflicting rulings widened the dispute

On January 18, 2026, the Benghazi-based court issued rulings nullifying a 2014 judgment of the Tripoli-based Constitutional Chamber that had invalidated the House of Representatives’ mandate. The same day, the Benghazi court upheld Law No. 1 of 2020, legislation issued after the August 2014 parliamentary divide by the General National Congress, which had not recognized the results of the 2014 parliamentary elections.

On January 28, the Tripoli-based chamber declared Law No. 1 unconstitutional, directly contradicting the earlier Benghazi decision. On February 15, the Benghazi court annulled the Tripoli chamber’s January 28 ruling and declared unconstitutional an earlier House of Representatives decision appointing the president of the Tripoli-based Supreme Court.

The dispute also reached control of the Official Gazette. On February 12, Libya’s Presidential Council issued a decree transferring publication of the Gazette to the Government of National Unity’s Justice Ministry, relying on a November 2025 ruling from the Tripoli chamber. That ruling had declared unconstitutional a 2022 law transferring control of the Gazette to the House of Representatives.

These actions do not necessarily mean that every ruling is enforceable nationwide. They do mean that competing institutions are claiming authority, creating uncertainty over which legal decisions public bodies should follow.

Why judicial councils matter

The conflict has expanded beyond constitutional review to the administration of the judiciary itself. In its April 22 briefing, the United Nations said two parallel Supreme Judicial Councils were making unilateral decisions, including the appointment and transfer of senior judicial officials and the relocation of key judicial bodies from western to eastern Libya.

The International Commission of Jurists likewise described two competing councils contesting control of the judiciary, including the council’s headquarters. The organization said the fragmentation creates structural legal uncertainty, weakens checks and balances and puts human-rights protection at greater risk.

That matters because a judicial council helps oversee appointments, administration and the functioning of courts. If two bodies claim that role, contested appointments and institutional transfers can deepen the split and make it harder to preserve judicial independence.

The consequences for elections and accountability

A national election needs more than polling stations and ballots. Candidates need rules that are accepted before voting, and voters and political institutions need confidence that disputes will be decided by a recognized legal authority afterward.

Libya’s rival courts complicate each of those steps. Conflicting interpretations of legislative mandates, election-related laws and institutional appointments can affect who has authority to act and whether a later judgment will be accepted by both sides.

On April 7, UNSMIL warned that unresolved judicial fragmentation could have profoundly negative consequences for the integrity of state institutions and the effectiveness of dispute-resolution mechanisms in upcoming electoral processes. The United Nations has also described contradictory parallel decisions as weakening the administration of justice and removing an important mechanism for holding governance actors accountable.

The International Commission of Jurists has similarly warned that fragmentation creates legal uncertainty, weakens already limited checks and balances and puts future electoral and constitutional arrangements at risk. That is an independent legal assessment, not a ruling by a UN body or a court.

Dialogue has produced recommendations, not a settlement

UNSMIL’s Structured Dialogue concluded on June 7 with a final report containing more than 525 recommendations aimed at enabling national elections, unifying and strengthening state institutions and addressing long-standing drivers of conflict. The dialogue also addressed judicial independence and rule-of-law concerns.

The recommendations were not adopted as binding law, and the available evidence does not show that the rival courts or Supreme Judicial Councils have reached a binding settlement. In April, the United Nations said there had been little progress in resolving the judicial division. UN engagement continued in July, including Secretary-General António Guterres’ meeting with Presidential Council President Mohamed Younis Menfi on July 7.

The next meaningful indicators will be whether Libyan actors agree on one judicial structure, settle authority over the Supreme Judicial Council, resolve disputed appointments and transfers, and establish an electoral framework that major institutions accept. Until then, Libya’s court crisis remains a direct obstacle to credible national elections and effective accountability.

Sources

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