In a unanimous vote, the General Assembly of the Supreme Court decided today to reactivate the Constitutional Circuit to consider and decide on appeals.
The decision, announced by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Counsellor Mohamed Al-Hafi, stated that the court “promises to Libyans that it will not take sides with any of the parties and will raise the status of the country and the established constitutional principles and rules.”
The constitutional court has ceased looking into constitutional cases for nearly six years. Its last decision was in 2014 when it ruled some elements of the Constitutional Declaration that led to the election of the 2014 House of Representatives were unconstitutional. This contributed to the split in Libya and the re-emergence of the rump of the General National Congress and its current unelected child, the High State Council.
The announcement may have monumental consequences on Libya’s politics, if Libya’s political streams, and most importantly its militias, abide by the constitutional court’s decisions.
