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Libya

Religious (Islamic) law is a leading source

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Libya's private law is a civil-law code system: the Civil Code of 1953 was drafted by the Egyptian jurist Abd El-Razzak El-Sanhuri, and Islamic law shapes family and other matters. Its political and judicial institutions have been divided and unsettled since 2011, so this profile describes only the long-standing structure.

Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Where the law comes from

  • The Civil Code (1953), the Penal Code and other codes and statutes
  • Islamic law, increasingly important after reforms from the 1970s on
  • Decisions of the Supreme Court
  • The transitional constitutional arrangements adopted after 2011; check current developments

The main courts

  • The Supreme Court at the top
  • Courts of appeal and first-instance courts, with separate administrative circuits
  • Personal-status matters decided under Islamic law

Becoming a lawyer

A law degree and registration with the Libyan Bar.

What may surprise you

  • The Civil Code is a sister of Egypt's, drafted by the same jurist.
  • Islamic law has played a larger role in lawmaking since the 1970s.
  • Competing authorities since 2011 mean the formal structure and the reality can differ, so check current developments.

Related systems

Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Syria

How this country is classified

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Libya as: Muslim, Civil law. It names the systems in order of importance.

The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.

Other countries in the same family

Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Egypt, Gambia, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan.

Sources

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.

TheLawToKnow Tools’s Legal Families Atlas is an educational overview. It simplifies on purpose, and it is not legal advice. For a real legal question about Libya, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.