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Chapter Seven

Independent Constitutional Bodies

Article 154: Independence of Constitutional Bodies

Bodies provided for in this Chapter shall enjoy a legal personality as well as administrative, financial and technical independence. They may be consulted on draft laws relevant to their area of expertise. They shall carry out their work in accordance with the provisions of the constitution and law. Their geographical distribution throughout the country shall be taken into account.

Article 155: Management of Constitutional Bodies

The legislative authority shall elect independent persons of competence and integrity to manage these bodies. Those persons may only be removed from office before the end of their term if they fail to meet any of the conditions of their election or in the cases stipulated by the law.

Article 156: Legislative Authority Oversight over Bodies

The constitutional bodies shall be subject to the monitoring of the House of Representatives and shall submit work reports thereto as regulated by the law. They shall also submit reports to the Council of Ministers. The House of Representatives may publish these reports following their discussion.

Article 157: High National Elections Commission

The High National Elections Commission shall exclusively undertake the management and organization of public referenda as well as all stages of the general and local elections with transparency and credibility, including announcement of the final results. The Commission shall be run by a board of nine members among whom is the chairperson who shall be elected by the legislative authority. They shall carry out their tasks for one term, which shall last six years. The term of one third of the members shall be renewed every two years.

Article 158: Audit Bureau

The Audit Bureau shall be the highest authority for financial control and audit in the State. It shall be competent with comprehensive oversight of State funds, the parties financed by the State, in whole or part, and any other bodies specified by the law. It shall also have the authority to track these funds. The Audit Bureau shall be run by a president with the capacity of public audit and one or more deputies with the capacity of an [agent] who will undertake their duties for a six year term renewable for one time.

Article 159: National Council for Human Rights

The National Council for Human Rights shall strengthen, promote and spread the culture of the values of human rights and public liberties provided for in Islamic Sharia and international conventions. It shall also:

1- Observe human rights conditions and monitor violations thereof. It shall report these violations to the competent national authorities and follow up on this.

2- Support the citizens in gaining their rights endorsed by the Constitution and the law.

3- Support women to obtain their constitutional and legal rights and to ensure that they are not discriminated against.

4- Recommend ratification of, or accession to, international covenants of human rights in a way that is not incompatible with the provisions of the Constitution.

5- Promote cooperation with the national and international human rights organizations.

The Council shall consist of nine members where representation of cultural and linguistic components as well as women and youth shall be taken into account. They shall carry out their duties for one term of six years. The legislative authority shall elect the president with the capacity of a commissioner and a deputy from among those members.

Article 160: National Council for Protection of Cultural and Linguistic Heritage

The Council shall develop and protect the languages such as Arabic, Amazigh, Targhey and Tebu, and shall preserve, document and devote attention to the diverse cultural and linguistic heritage of the Libyan people to ensure the preservation of its originality within the framework of the collective Libyan identity. The Council shall be run by nine members where representation of the cultural and linguistic components of the Libyan people shall be taken into account. The legislative authority shall elect a chairperson from among the members for one term that shall last six years.

Article 161: Sharia Research Council

The Sharia Research Council shall assume the following duties:

1- Express opinions on matters referred to it by State authorities to analyze and form opinions based on Sharia evidence

2- Conduct specialized Sharia research to address current general religious issues, seeking the help of specialists in all fields, and giving recommendations therein

3- Issue individual fatwas on beliefs, acts of worship, and personal transactions, taking into account the dominant jurisprudential heritage in the country.

The Council shall be made up of fifteen members who are specialized in Islamic Sharia selected by the legislative authority for a six-year term renewable for one time. There shall be a president and vice president presiding over the Council for three years term. The Council shall also have a number of specialists in various fields. Geographic distribution shall be taken into consideration when selecting the members of the Council, and it shall have branches in accordance with the regulations of the law.

Article 162: Sustainable Development Authority

The Sustainable Development Authority shall assume the following tasks:

1- Recommend the appropriate measures to achieve balanced and sustainable development.

2- Propose appropriate polices, plans and programs to build and develop human capabilities, diversity of resources and identify national development priorities to ensure convergence of development level among the different regions.

3- Offer technical advice on development plans at the local and national levels.

4- Assess development plans and their implementation in the light of the balanced and sustainable development indicators and the need to maintain the rights of the future generations.

The Authority shall be managed by a council made of six members elected by the legislative authority which shall determine who will be the president and vice-president for a period of six years that can be renewed only once. One third of members shall be renewed every two years.

Article 163: Other Bodies

The law shall establish bodies for administrative oversight, transparency and anti-corruption, statistics, higher council for media and press and a council for science, technology and innovation. The law shall determine their composition, competencies and regulations, and shall guarantee the independence and impartiality of their members in accordance with what is stipulated in this Chapter.

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Libya Constitution Chapter Seven - The Libya Observer

Two oil-exporting nations could decide the future of a historic deal to drain a worldwide glut of crude oil, according to Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets.

It's not top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia, the architects of the accord, but conflict-plagued Libya and Venezuela, a petrostate on the brink of collapse.

Oil producers are meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday and Tuesday to figure out how to improve compliance with a deal struck by OPEC and other exporters to keep 1.8 million barrels a day off the market. Analysts say top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia have limited options to convince producers to pump less.

The compact has been undermined by surging supply from U.S. drillers, as well as OPEC members Libya and Nigeria, which were exempt.

OPEC initially gave Libya a pass because the northern African nation was still restoring its oil supply after years of civil conflict. But output has surged about 50 percent to 852,000 barrels a day between November, when OPEC signed the deal, and June.

While Nigeria recently agreed to cap its output in the future, Libya has not yet made any commitments.

"They were never part of the deal. They're going to have to be brought into the deal to make this thing work going forward," Croft told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Monday.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's production has slumped about 13 percent this year as its economic and political crisis worsens. International oil companies have begun pulling their workers out of Venezuela, Croft noted.

A further drop in production from Venezuela, a major crude oil supplier to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries, could be the secret to removing more barrels from the market and boosting stagnant oil prices.

"What actually could save OPEC is probably going to be Venezuela," Croft said.

Read more here:
Libya and Venezuela could be OPEC's best hope - CNBC.com - CNBC

By Dave Forest - Aug 08, 2017, 10:30 AM CDT

More drama in embattled oil producer Libya this week. With reports suggesting the countrys largest oil field has once again been endangered by local fighting.

Reuters reported early Monday that production at the Sharara field was grinding to a halt. With local sources saying that a key control room at the facility had been shut down.

The reason for the closure wasnt immediately clear. But Reuters did cite persons familiar with the situation as saying that an armed group had taken action against the facility potentially resulting in the shutdown.

At the time, sources said that Shararas output was likely to decline to zero due to the problems at the control room. But reports emergedlater in the daysaying the problem had been fixed, and that production was now returning to normal.

Those reports confirmed that an armed group had been involved in action against the infrastructure here. With Libyas National Oil Company saying, The armed protesters were evacuated from the control room, pumping returned to its natural level and production is being restored.

All of whichis potentially critical news for the global crude market. With Sharara being the biggest part of Libyas recently-surging oil production putting out 270,000 barrels per day of Libyas total 1 million b/d output. Related:Barclays: Oil Prices To Drop This Quarter

It looks as if problems here have been averted for the time being. But these events show things are still tenuous in Libyas oil sector evidenced by the fact an armed group was able to take over one of the countrys key installations, even briefly.

If ongoing problems do present here, it could put a significant dent in crude supplies giving support to the oil price. Watch for reports on any new issues over the coming weeks and months.

Heres to a smooth return.

By Dave Forest

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

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Excerpt from:
Oil Prices Fall As Libya's Biggest Oil Field Comes Back Online - OilPrice.com

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell as much as 2 percent on Monday on selling triggered by a rebound in production from Libya's largest oil field, along with worries about higher output from OPEC and the United States.

Output at Libya's Sharara field was returning to normal after a brief disruption by armed protesters in the coastal city of Zawiya, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said. The field has boosted Libya's oil production, which climbed to more than 1 million bpd in late June.

Global benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 26 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $52.16 a barrel at 2:05 p.m. EDT (1805 GMT) after trading as low as $51.37 a barrel

U.S. crude futures CLc1 were down 34 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $49.24 per barrel, after seeing a low of $48.54 a barrel.

Both contracts stood below levels hit last week, which marked their highest since late May.

Doubts have emerged about the effectiveness of output cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other big producers including Russia. OPEC output hit a 2017 high in July and its exports hit a record.

"The petroleum markets are tipping toward the lower end of their recent trading range as oil producers meeting in Abu Dhabi have been slow to assure the market that compliance with this years production cuts will be improved, although we continue to note that adherence to the limits has actually been quite strong by historical standards," Tim Evans, Citi Futures' energy futures specialist, said in a note.

"The recent increase in OPEC production has mostly been a function of recovering volumes from Libya and Nigeria."

Officials from a joint OPEC and non-OPEC technical committee are meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday and Tuesday to discuss ways to boost compliance with the deal to cut 1.8 million barrels per day in production.

Oil output in the United States remained high even though Baker Hughes data on Friday showed a cut of one drilling rig in the week to Aug. 4, bringing the U.S. rig count down to 765. RIG-OL-USA-BHI

U.S. weekly oil production hit 9.43 million bpd in the week to July 28, the highest since August 2015 and up 12 percent from its most recent low in June last year. C-OUT-T-EIA Morgan Stanley said in a note on Monday it expects to see U.S. oil production growing by 900,000 bpd in the fourth quarter versus a year earlier, up from a forecast of 860,000 bpd earlier.

Some analysts expected OPEC could talk up prices.

"Saudi Arabia will restate that they will export only 6.6 million bpd (six-year low) in August and inventories will continue to draw down," SEB Markets chief commodities analyst Bjarne Schieldrop said.

On the global demand side, Goldman Sachs said data available so far for June points to continued strong growth.

"We believe that the biggest driver for this robust demand is strong economic growth in recent months," Goldman said in a note.

Additional reporting by Libby George in London, Jane Chung in Seoul and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Jane Merriman, David Gregorio and Frances Kerry

Read the rest here:
Oil slides as output rises at Libya's largest oil field - Reuters

Conakry On 3 August, 132 Guinean migrants, including six unaccompanied children, returned voluntarily to Guinea from Libya with the support of IOM, the UN Migration Agency, in collaboration with Guinean and Libyan authorities.

William Lacy Swing, IOM Director General, who was in Libya at the time, saw them off at Tripolis Mitiga Airport on Thursday. The returnees arrived in Conakry that same evening.

Many of these migrants just really want to go home, said Ambassador Swing from the airport tarmac. We have voluntarily returned nearly 6,000 people so far this year and we hope to have helped at least 12,00015,000 migrants get home safely from Libya through voluntary humanitarian return assistance by the end of 2017.

Prior to departure, IOM Libya conducted interviews and medical checkups with the migrants. They also received additional assistance, such as kits containing clothes and shoes.

At Conakry airport, the returnees were welcomed by teams from IOM, the National Service for Humanitarian Actions (SENAH), the Red Cross, representatives of the Ministry in charge of Guineans Living Abroad, and of the Ministry of Social Affairs. Apart from providing psychosocial support, IOM interviewed the returnees to obtain deeper insight into the profile of irregular migrants why they left their country, their migratory pathway and living conditions in Libya. Among the migrants assisted, three patients received medical assistance from the Red Cross upon arrival at Conakry. The three were then transferred by ambulance to a medical facility in a special unit prepared for returning migrants.

Further support will be provided as part of the IOM programme, Enhancement of Migration Governance and Support for the Sustainable Reintegration of Migrants in the Republic of Guinea funded by the European Union.

Several returnees were interviewed, including Habib*, who had been working as a tailor in Libya for the last five years and owned a sewing workshop with his two brothers. He recounted how a police officer came over one day and asked him to adjust a uniform that was too large. The outfit was so large that Habib explained to him it was impossible. The officer lost his temper, stabbed Habib and ordered his imprisonment.

Amadou* left for Italy in one of five boats that set sail at the same time. Once they entered international waters, they were intercepted and captured by robbers/bandits. The sea was so rough that one of the boats capsized and sank with roughly 150 persons on board, most of whom were Guineans.

Mamadou* (14 years old) had left Bok several months earlier with money from a motor bike he had sold. His family had thought he was dead but some Guinean returning migrants told them he was at the Ghryian detention centre. IOM teams in Guinea and Libya joined efforts to locate and identify Mamadou. His family recognized him from a photograph taken by IOM at the detention centre. His elder brother came to meet him at the airport.

From 1 January to 19 July, IOM helped 5,546 migrants, 17 per cent of whom were women, return from Libya to their countries of origin. Three-quarters of these returnees had been held in detention centres. 2,221 were eligible for reintegration assistance. So far since January 2017, IOM has organized six flights of this nature from Libya to Guinea. These numbers of people returning add to other Guinean returnees from Benin, Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco and Niger.

The programme, Enhancement of Migration Governance and Support for the Sustainable Reintegration of Migrants in the Republic of Guinea was launched in April 2017 for a three-year period covering six administrative regions of Guinea: Conakry, Bok, Mamou, Lab, Kankan and NZrkor. Under this project, IOM Guinea will support returning migrants, depending on their profiles and needs, by facilitating the creation of a small business, involving them in a collective and/or community business initiative, or providing them with vocational training.

*The names of the migrants have been changed to protect their privacy.

For more information, please contact Lucas Chandellier, at IOM Guinea, Tel: +224 628 33 86 53, E-mail: lchandellier@iom.int

Read more:
132 Guinean Migrants Return Home Safely from Libya with UN Migration Agency Help - ReliefWeb