Law No. 70
Granting a General Amnesty and Exceptionally Reducing Certain Sentences
The Chamber of Deputies has adopted,
And the President of the Republic hereby promulgates the following Law:
Article 1
A general amnesty shall be granted for offences committed before 1 March 2026. It shall benefit all persons who participated in their commission, whether as principal offenders, accomplices, accessories, instigators or harbourers, in accordance with the definitions set out in the Penal Code.
The general amnesty shall result in the extinguishment of public prosecution and the expungement of the principal sentences imposed. All prosecutions, judgments and decisions, including administrative decisions issued against public officials for charges other than financial corruption, shall also be extinguished, whether rendered in person, in absentia or deemed to have been rendered in person.
Article 2
The following offences shall be excluded from the general amnesty, whether or not judgments have been issued:
- Offences referred to the Judicial Council.
- Intentional or premeditated murder and the offences stipulated in the Anti-Terrorism Law issued on 11 January 1958, when committed against civilians, military personnel or members of the security forces.
- Military offences stipulated in Part II of Book III and dishonourable offences stipulated in Article 105 of Military Justice Law No. 24 of 13 April 1968.
- Treason, espionage and offences involving unlawful relations with the enemy, with the exception of persons covered by paragraph 2 of the sole article of Law No. 194 of 18 November 2011, who shall automatically be deemed beneficiaries of the present General Amnesty Law.
- The following drug-related offences:
- Repeat felony drug offenders whose offences exceed a second occurrence and were committed before the enactment of this Law, whether or not judicial judgments were issued.
- All drug offences committed by military personnel and members of security institutions.
- Offences involving the cultivation of narcotic substances shall be covered by this amnesty if committed before the enactment of this Law.
- Offences involving all forms of encroachment subject to prosecution that remain ongoing on the date this Law is enacted and that affect:
- Public property of the State of all kinds.
- Municipal public property.
- Municipal, communal and State-owned common lands.
- Public property belonging to public institutions.
- State-owned property and facilities.
The amnesty shall not cover fines imposed for violations committed prior to this Law.
- Offences committed against public funds.
- Forgery, counterfeiting and circulation of national or foreign currency, undermining the State’s financial standing, fraudulent bankruptcy, offences stipulated in the Code of Money and Credit, and all other laws and regulations governing banks.
- Illicit enrichment offences stipulated in Law No. 189 of 16 October 2020 involving the embezzlement, misappropriation or theft of public funds or funds belonging to financial and banking institutions, as well as tax evasion.
- Offences stipulated in Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Law No. 44/2015 and offences violating the Code of Money and Credit, whoever their perpetrators may be, particularly offences involving depositors’ funds and banking offences of all kinds.
- Offences stipulated in laws governing antiquities.
- Rape, incest, human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault against minors, offences governed by Law No. 65/2017 on the Criminalisation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and offences governed by Law No. 105/2018 on Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons.
- Theft offences in the following cases:
- Felonies, where prosecutions or convictions have occurred more than twice.
- Misdemeanours, where prosecutions or convictions have occurred more than three times.
- Environmental offences stipulated in Environmental Protection Law No. 444 of 29 July 2002 and related legislation.
Article 3
Notwithstanding any other provision, for offences committed before the entry into force of this Law, whether or not judgments have been rendered, and which are not covered by the amnesty, the terms of sentences shall be commuted as follows:
- A death sentence shall be commuted to 28 years’ imprisonment.
- Life imprisonment with hard labour shall be commuted to 17 years’ imprisonment.
- All other remaining sentences shall be reduced by one third.
For intentional or premeditated murder accompanied by or associated with any of the following aggravating circumstances:
- Rape or sexual assault.
- Commission by an ascendant, descendant, or person exercising authority, guardianship or custodianship over the victim.
- Association with torture, brutality, mutilation or abduction.
- Commission in the context of a political assassination.
Where the injured party had assumed the status of a civil claimant before 1 March 2026, the convicted person shall not benefit from the reduction unless the personal claim is withdrawn.
Article 4
Criminal courts shall retain jurisdiction over personal claims arising from an offence covered by the full amnesty, the statute of limitations or a sentence reduction, provided that the public prosecution was brought directly before the criminal authorities or referred to them before this Law entered into force.
Other personal claims arising from a criminal offence covered by the full amnesty or the statute of limitations shall be adjudicated by the competent civil or administrative courts. The applicable court-fee legislation governing civil claims brought before criminal courts shall apply.
When enforcing a compensation judgment issued by a criminal or ordinary court, the claimant may request the coercive imprisonment of the judgment debtor in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Penal Code.
Article 5
As an exceptional measure, in respect of all offences committed before 1 March 2026 for which no judgment has been issued, if the period of detention exceeds 12 years, the defendant shall be released by operation of law, while the trial shall continue in accordance with applicable legal procedures.
Article 6
If a beneficiary of this Law commits a felony after the date of its publication, the sentence imposed for the new offence shall be aggravated in accordance with Article 257 of the Penal Code.
However, if the beneficiary commits a felony after the publication of this Law, the amnesty shall be revoked and the beneficiary’s sentence or trial shall resume from the stage it had reached before this Law was enacted, in addition to prosecution for the newly committed offence.
Article 7
With respect to non-Lebanese nationals, any person benefiting from the provisions of this Law shall, immediately upon release from prison, be handed over to the General Directorate of General Security so that the necessary measures may be taken in accordance with applicable legal procedures.
Article 8
Fees, security deposits and fines already collected shall not be refunded, nor shall legally prohibited objects confiscated or seized in any proceedings covered by the amnesty be returned.
Article 9
As an exceptional measure, all convicted persons who completed their sentences before the date of publication of this Law but remain imprisoned because of their failure to pay court-imposed financial penalties shall be exempted from all fines and fees of any kind so that they may be released from prison.
Article 10
On a one-time basis and solely for the purposes of implementing this Law, Article 205 of the Penal Code shall be amended to read as follows:
With the exception of persons sentenced to death or life imprisonment, whose sentences may not be combined, where several felonies or misdemeanours are established, a sentence shall be imposed for each offence and only the most severe sentence shall be enforced.
Sentences may nevertheless be combined, provided that the aggregate term of the determinate sentences does not exceed the maximum penalty prescribed for the most serious offence by more than one quarter.
Article 11
This Law shall enter into force immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette.
Issued by the President of the Republic
Prime Minister
Signature: Nawaf Salam
Baabda, 4 September 2026
Signature: Joseph Aoun
Prime Minister
Signature: Nawaf Salam
Statement of Reasons
This proposal seeks to restore the principle of justice as a pillar of the rule of law and a fundamental guarantee of individual rights and freedoms. It does so by addressing the dysfunction caused by chronic delays in issuing criminal judgments and the resulting consequences that undermine the essence and objectives of justice.
Whereas Lebanon has for years been suffering from successive crises affecting the judiciary and prison administration, resulting in an acute humanitarian crisis manifested in the detention of remand detainees and prisoners for periods exceeding the statutory time limits established by the Code of Criminal Procedure, contrary to the minimum standards that must be observed in the treatment of prisoners;
Whereas the exceptional circumstances experienced by Lebanon—including successive political and constitutional crises, delays in forming governments, a vacancy in the Presidency of the Republic, disruption of the regular functioning of constitutional institutions, judicial strikes and work stoppages, delays in judicial appointments, wars and repeated attacks, and their serious security, economic and social consequences—have collectively had a detrimental impact on the proper administration of justice and the regularity of judicial proceedings, resulting in mounting case backlogs and delays in issuing judgments, thereby potentially undermining citizens’ confidence in the judiciary and in the State’s ability to deliver justice;
Whereas the rule of law requires a balance between the requirements of security and justice and respect for fundamental rights, and whereas slow judicial proceedings and accumulating cases prolong pretrial detention and, in many instances, transform it from an exceptional measure into an actual punishment enforced before judgment, contrary to the right to trial within a reasonable time and the principle that liberty is the rule and detention the exception;
Whereas delayed justice loses its practical meaning, as only timely justice constitutes effective justice, and whereas excessive delays in issuing judgments undermine the presumption of innocence, the individual’s right to liberty and personal security, and the principle of equality before the law, while weakening legal certainty and citizens’ confidence in the judiciary and the State;
Whereas this situation has been aggravated by recurring logistical and administrative factors, such as the inability to transport certain detainees to their trial hearings and the adjournment of hearings for reasons beyond their control, producing accumulated consequences that may not justly be borne by the detainee or prisoner;
Whereas the crisis has assumed a direct humanitarian dimension affecting human dignity, as overcrowding and poor conditions in detention facilities and prisons render prolonged detention without trial or without a final determination of legal status an infringement of human dignity and of the minimum international standards for the treatment of prisoners and detainees;
Whereas paragraph 9 of Article 53 of the Lebanese Constitution entrusts the Chamber of Deputies with the power to grant general amnesty;
Whereas the enactment of a general amnesty law, subject to specific safeguards and clear exceptions, would help remedy injustice suffered by wronged persons, strengthen citizens’ confidence in State institutions, reduce prison overcrowding and enable the judiciary to expedite the adjudication of remaining cases, without undermining the principle of accountability, the rights of injured parties or public order;
Whereas this proposal constitutes an exceptional and temporary measure aimed at restoring balance to the criminal justice system and achieving humane justice, rather than serving as a substitute for the necessary judicial and prison reforms or as a remedy for structural deficiencies that require a comprehensive public policy;
Whereas this measure must be accompanied by a clearly defined public policy established by the executive authority, aimed at activating trials and reforming and rehabilitating prisons and detention facilities in accordance with humanitarian and legal standards and within a specific timeframe;
We therefore submit the attached draft law, hoping that it will be debated and adopted.
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