Stockholm, Sweden — The International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) today released a new report that explains how justice is administered throughout Syria after six years of conflict. ILAC’s Rule of Law Assessment Report, Syria 2017  provides a baseline for future reconciliation efforts with a comprehensive, publicly available account of the current state of the Syrian justice sector.

“In planning for peace, Syria and the international community will need to base their actions in rebuilding the justice system on what presently exists in Syria today,” said Agneta Johansson, ILAC’s Executive Director and mission leader.  “The breakdown in the government’s control throughout large parts of Syria has led to differences in how justice is administered across the country.  Reinstating a unified system of justice that can uphold the rule of law and provide due process will be a major challenge facing Syria after the war.”

In November and December 2016, ILAC’s nine-person assessment team met with over 100 Syrian legal professionals, civil society actors and international officials. Among those interviewed were approximately 70 Syrian judges and lawyers, who included both those currently practicing law in different parts of Syria, and those who have been forced to flee to neighboring countries due to the conflict.

The team examined the justice sector as it stood before the uprisings in 2011 and used this as a starting point for a comparison of the situation today throughout the country.   [Read more…]