Libyan interim Constitutional Declaration

The Libyan interim Constitutional Declaration was finalized on 3 August 2011 by the National Transitional Council and publicly announced on 10 August 2011 by Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, the council's vice president and official spokesman, following the overthrow of the Gaddafi government in the Libyan Civil War. It was intended to remain in effect only until a permanent constitution could be written and ratified in a referendum. The document consists of 37 articles arranged in five sections: articles 1 through 6 set out general provisions on Libya as a state, and articles 7 through 15 specify civil rights and public freedoms. It declares Libya a democracy in which the people are the source of political authority, an Islamic state with sharia as the principal source of legislation, and a country that recognizes freedom of religion for non-Muslim minorities and commits to a multi-party democratic system. Envisioned as a transitional framework pending a permanent constitution originally targeted for December 2013, it has instead remained Libya's operative supreme law through years of continued political division.