قانون رقم (18) لسنة 1985 بشأن الأمن الشعبي المحلي

Law No. (18) of 1985

on local public security

The General People's Congress :

In execution of the resolutions adopted by the People's Congresses in their third ordinary session of 1393-1394 FDP, corresponding to 1984 AD, and formulated by the General Forum of People's Congresses, People's Committees, syndicates, professional associations, and unions (the General People's Congress) during its tenth ordinary session from 5 to 9 Jumada al-Akhera 1394 FDP, corresponding to 26 February to 2 March 1985 AD;

And upon review of:

• Law No. (6) of 1972 on the police, and its amendments;
• Law No. (15) of 1981 on the salary system of national employees in the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

drafted the following law:

Article (1)

Local public security shall be the responsibility of the citizens of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. It shall be implemented as per the provisions of this law.

Article (2)

A Department subordinate to the People's Committee of Justice shall be established in each municipality and shall be called the "Local Public Security Department." It shall have one or more branches in the municipality's jurisdiction and one or more division shall be subordinate to it in each locality.

The General People's Committee for Justice shall issue a decree to organize these departments, branches, and divisions subordinate to them.

Article (3)

The Local Public Security Department shall assume all the powers assigned to the police force in the municipality.

Article (4)

The Local Public Security Department in every municipality shall be composed of local public security volunteers and police forces in the municipality's jurisdiction.

Article (5)

Volunteers in the local public security forces shall meet the following conditions:

1. He must be a citizen of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
2. He must live within the municipality.
3. He must be commendable and of a good reputation.
4. He must be no less than eighteen years of age.
5. He must not have been previously convicted of a felony or misdemeanour involving moral turpitude, unless he has been rehabilitated.
6. He must know how to read and write.
7. He must be physically fit.
8. He must not be married to a non-Arab.

Article (6)

The People's Committee of the locality shall be responsible for receiving applications to volunteer in the local public security forces using the form designated for this purpose and referring them immediately to the People's Committee for Justice in the municipality, along with the necessary documents and papers and its opinion.

The People's Committee for Justice in the municipality shall issue its decision to accept or reject the application within three months from the date of referral.

Article (7)

Employees and workers in administrative units, enterprises, and companies owned by the community or in whose capital the community holds a share may volunteer to work in the local public security forces as full-timers or in addition to their original job, subject to the approval of these entities.

Volunteers from these categories shall retain all salaries, bonuses, and financial benefits prescribed for them in their original places of work, provided the costs are borne by such entities. The volunteering period shall be considered a service period in all respects, including seniority, promotion, payability of the annual bonus, and security rights.

Full-timer volunteers from other categories than those listed in the first paragraph shall be granted financial remuneration in exchange for carrying out their duties.

Executive regulations shall govern the rules and conditions for granting these benefits.

Article (8)

Non-full-time volunteers may be granted financial remuneration in exchange for carrying out the tasks entrusted to them, in accordance with the rules and conditions set forth by executive regulations.

Volunteers from all categories shall be entitled to receive compensation for damages they suffer while performing their duties, in accordance with the provisions set forth for police employees.

Article (9)

The General People's Committee for Justice shall prepare the theoretical and practical training programs for the volunteers of the local public security forces and the People's Committee for Justice in the municipality shall implement them.

Article (10)

The General People's Committee for Justice shall issue a resolution to determine the terms, conditions, and rules of the seniority system for volunteers in the local public security forces within the municipality and to determine their equivalent among the ranks and seniority levels of police employees.

Volunteers in local public security forces shall have the status of judicial officers as set forth for their counterparts among police employees.

Article (11)

While on duty, volunteers in local public security forces shall wear a special badge or insignia. The specifications of the badge or insignia shall be determined by virtue of a resolution from the General People's Committee for Justice.

Article (12)

While on duty, volunteers in local public security forces may carry necessary weapons, ammunitions, and devices given to them.

Article (13)

The People's Committee for Justice in the municipality may transfer the volunteer from one branch to another in the department subordinate thereto in the following cases:

1. If the interest of work requires such.
2. If the volunteer wishes to be transferred.

The volunteer may be transferred from one municipality to another by virtue of a resolution from the People's Committee for Justice in the municipality after the approval of the entity with which he is affiliated.

The General People's Committee for Justice may transfer full-time volunteers periodically among municipalities if the public interest requires such.

In all cases, in the event the volunteer moves his residence to a different locality within or outside the municipality, his work in the local public security forces shall be transferred to the locality to which he moved.

Article (14)

The work of volunteers in local public security forces shall end for any of the following reasons:

1. Inability to fulfil volunteering duties for health reasons.
2. Resignation.
3. Dismissal by virtue of a disciplinary decision.
4. Conviction of a felony or misdemeanour involving moral turpitude.
5. Death.

Article (15)

The forms, registries, and records necessary to implement the provisions of this law shall be determined by virtue of a resolution from the General People's Committee for Justice.

The executive regulations shall specify what volunteers in local public security forces must be carrying while on duty to identify themselves and what will facilitate the exercise of their duties.

Article (16)

Volunteers in local public security forces may not:

1. Reveal confidential information they become aware of while performing their duties.
2. Retain for themselves any official paper related to the work of local public security forces or remove the same from their dedicated files.
3. Violate security procedures taken by competent authorities.
4. Neglect their duties, transgress their limits, or abuse their powers.
5. Refrain from handing in the weapons, ammunition, or other tasks they have.
6. Be absent or late to work without permission or acceptable reason.
7. Disobey orders issued by superiors.
8. Mistreat others while on duty.
9. Engage in other actions prohibited under the laws, statutes, orders, and regulations.

Article (17)

The disciplinary penalties that may be imposed on volunteers in local public security forces shall be:

1. Warning.
2. Deduction of salary or bonus for a maximum of sixty days a year and ten days in one penalty.
3. Confinement at the workplace for a maximum of two days.
4. Dismissal from service.

These penalties shall be imposed by a disciplinary board formed by a resolution from the People's Committee for Justice in the municipality concerned. Executive regulations shall govern the formation of this board and the procedures of the disciplinary trial.

The secretary of the People's Committee for Justice in the municipality and the most senior official in the department may inflict the penalties of warning and confinement in the workplace.

Article (18)

The executive regulations of this law shall be issued by virtue of a resolution from the General People's Committee at the proposal of the General People's Committee for Justice.

Article (19)

This law shall enter into force from its date of issuance and shall be published in the official Gazette.

The General People's Congress -- Libya

Issued in Dhu al-Hijja 1394 FDP

Corresponding to 22 August 1985 AD