After Parliament approved the general amnesty law on 12 August, President Aoun has not made a final decision on signing or rejecting it, with constitutional review proceedings ongoing at Baabda palace.
Parliament approved the general amnesty law on 12 August. President Aoun has not yet announced his final position on it, and the law has not yet been published in the official gazette.
The constitutional deadline available to the president extends to approximately mid-September, under Article 57 of the Lebanese Constitution, which grants 30 full days for ordinary laws. The president may sign the law and refer it for publication, or return it to Parliament for reconsideration.
The deadline for submitting constitutional challenges by deputies begins from the publication of the law in the official gazette, not from its approval in Parliament. However, this deadline is currently suspended.
Baabda palace is conducting a detailed legal review of the law's provisions article by article, aimed at reconciling the president's constitutional role as guardian of laws and justice with the political, social and humanitarian reality in the country.
Aoun's decision is caught between conflicting pressures. Some provisions raise objections, particularly those covering amnesty for defendants accused of assault and killing members of the Lebanese Army, as well as the absence of political consensus on the approved formula.
If the president signs the law, he is obliged to immediately refer it for publication, allowing opposing blocs to file an official challenge before the Constitutional Council. Conversely, if he returns it to Parliament, this could occur if the review finds constitutional gaps, particularly concerning the rights of victims of events in Abra and Bahnine, or concerning the exclusion of corruption and illicit enrichment crimes from the final version.
The Strong Lebanon bloc led by deputy Gebran Bassil is leading a campaign to secure 10 signatures from deputies to file an official challenge before the Constitutional Council. It enjoys indirect political and legal support from deputies of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc and some independent deputies.
The opposing blocs are focusing their objections on four specific articles, including the article concerning reduction of sentence duration, and the article concerning detainees without trial if their detention exceeds 12 years. They argue that these formulations could allow the release of detainees accused in terrorism cases.
The opposing forces point to ambiguous wordings that could allow passage of a disguised amnesty for prosecutions targeting financial speculators or those involved in banking crimes or corruption cases under the guise of simple financial misdemeanours.
