Constitution of Libya (1951)

The 1951 Libyan Constitution was brought into force on 7 October 1951, prior to Libya's formal declaration of its independence on 21 December 1951 as a constitutional and hereditary monarchy under King Idris. The enactment of the Libyan Constitution was significant in that it was the first and only piece of legislation that formally entrenched the rights of Libyan citizens after the post-war creation of the Libyan nation state.

The Libyan National Assembly drafted the Constitution and passed a resolution accepting it in a meeting held in the city of Benghazi on Sunday, 6th Muharram, Hegiras 1371: October 7, 1951. Mohamed Abulas’ad El-Alem, President of the National Assembly and the two Vice-Presidents of the National Assembly, Omar Faiek Shennib and Abu Baker Ahmed Abu Baker executed and submitted the Constitution to King Idris prior to its publication in the Official Gazette of Libya.

The enactment of the Libyan Constitution was significant in that it was the first piece of legislation to formally entrench the rights of Libyan citizens following the post-war creation of the Libyan nation state. Following on from the intense UN debates, during which Idris had argued that the creation of a single Libyan state would be of benefit to the regions of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica, the Libyan government was keen to formulate a constitution which contained many of the entrenched rights common to European and North American nation states.

Following the "Green Revolution" military coup of 1969, led by Colonel Gaddafi, that overthrew the monarchy and the Libyan National Assembly, the Libyan Constitution was no longer in effect. The Green Book put forth by Gaddafi became the foundation of the laws of Libya.

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Libya included a Preamble and twelve Chapters outlining the protection of human rights in Libya and regulating the nature and functions of the institutional apparatus of the Libyan State. Law N. 1 of 1963 abolished Chapter 3 and Articles 173, 174, and 175, thereby suppressing the Federal Regime originally established by the 1951 Constitution.

Chapter 1 of the 1951 Constitution defined the “Form of State and System of Government of the Country”, while Chapter 2 described the “Rights of People”. Chapter 3, repealed in 1963, included a first section regarding the “Powers of the Federal Government” and a second section pertaining to “Joint Powers.”

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