Decree No. (7) of 2005 establishing the General Authority for Information, Documentation, and Telecommunications

General People’s Committee

Decree No. (7) of 1373 FDP, corresponding to 2005 AD,

establishing the General Authority for Information, Documentation, and Telecommunications

The General People’s Committee,

Upon review of:

• The Code of Criminal Procedure;
• Law No. (16) of 1963 on statistics and censuses;
• The Law of the Financial System of the State, issued on 24/10/1967, and the amendments thereof;
• Law No. (55) of 1976 issuing the Civil Service Law, and the executive regulation thereof;
• Law No. (15) of 1981 on the payroll system for national workers in the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya;
• Law No. (16) of 1984 establishing the General Post and Telecommunications Company;
• Law No. (4) of 1990 on the National Corporation for Information and Documentation;
• Law No. (8) of 1990 on telecommunications;
• Law No. (11) of 1425 FBP on the organisation of popular oversight, and the amendments and executive regulation thereof;
• Law No. (19) of 1428 FBP on the organisation of the services of administrative units for their members, and the executive regulation thereof;
• Law No. (13) of 1430 FBP on planning, and the executive regulation thereof;
• Law No. (1) of 1369 FDP on the People’s Congresses and People’s Committees, and the executive regulation thereof;
• Law No. [sic] of 1369 FDP on urban planning, and the executive regulation thereof;
• General People’s Committee Decision No. (149) of [sic] establishing the National Corporation for Information and Documentation;
• Decision No. (196) of 1372 FDP of the General People’s Committee on the organisation of telecommunications systems;
• Secretariat of the General People’s Committee Decision No. (2) of 1369 FDP granting permission to conclude a contract to implement the African satellite project;
• The decisions of the General People’s Committee in its second ordinary session of 1369 FDP;
• The decisions of the General People’s Committee in its first ordinary meeting of 1373 FDP;

has decreed:

Article (1)

Under the provisions of this decree, a public body shall be established under the name of the General Authority for Information, Documentation, and Telecommunications. This body shall have legal personality and independent financial liability. It shall be subordinate to the Secretariat of the General People’s Committee.

Article (2)

The headquarters and legal address of the Authority shall be the city of Tripoli, in the Great Jamahiriya. Branches or offices of the Authority may be opened, and a decision shall be issued by the Secretariat of the General People’s Committee regarding their establishment and designating their competencies and scope of work.

Article (3)

The Authority shall have the following competencies:

1. Follow up on and implement the decisions of the Basic People’s Congresses in the areas of information, documentation, telecommunications, and Libyan satellites.
2. Collect and maintain data, information, and documents, in accordance with principles and methods, and make this available to public and private entities.
3. Establish unified guidelines and standards, as well as organisational methods in the area of its work, for the purpose of collaboration and integration between the relevant entities.
4. Contribute to everything that may develop the movement of information, documentation, and telecommunications within the Great Jamahiriya.
5. Set up national databases and sources of information in the fields of human resources, science, and technology, as well as other fields that reflect the expertise of the Great Jamahiriya.
6. Contribute to the development of the use of computers, postal and telecommunications devices, and other electronic equipment and devices, for the purpose of achieving the optimal benefit from the use of such devices within the Great Jamahiriya.
7. Develop and organise databases, information, and telecommunications that help support the decisions and facilitate the tasks of studies, research, and planning in the economic, social, scientific, legal, and other fields.
8. Prepare a national information guide.
9. Organise and follow up on the goals of the national system for information and documentation, coordinate work with its centres, supervise the implementation of the national system for information, and follow up on guides, directives, instructions, and procedures issued in this regard.

10. Organise the flow of data and information between different information and documentation centres, both within and outside of the Great Jamahiriya, and link them together within the framework of the National Information Network.

11. Propose the necessary legislation to implement the National Network for Information, Documentation, and Telecommunications, in a manner that guarantees the realisation of its goals.

12. Document literature of the revolution and the Authority of the People, and collect, classify, and maintain related information and documents in order to prepare it to provide benefits in the political, economic, and social arenas, as well as for scientific research goals within the Great Jamahiriya and abroad.

13. Research and study statistical matters for the purpose of supporting the public entities in creating, following up on, and funding plans and explaining and measuring social and economic developments.

14. Suggest a designation of times and ways to perform statistical procedures; designate times and ways to publish their results as will guarantee their accuracy, precision, and competence and extend people’s ability to benefit from them and rely on them; and carry out general censuses of residents and other statistical procedures and censuses, and take the necessary measures to implement them.

15. Designate the statistics entities or agencies that shall undertake the statistical operations that fall under the jurisdiction of the Authority, as achieves full coordination between these operations.

16. Determine the organising rules for providing authorisation to use telecommunications.

17. Propose organising regulations for providing permits and licenses related to engaging in economic activities in the field of the Authority’s work.

18. Designate the official source for every kind of statistics needed by the State.

19. Spread statistical awareness within the country and improve the level of statistics in the country.

20. Collect the necessary data to annually prepare and publish the accounts of national income for the national economy, and cooperate with the competent entities in the preparation thereof.

21. Analyze the national accounts and prepare the necessary indicators to aid in the preparation of studies and periodic reports about economic development.

22. Prepare prospects and predictions for key economic variables in the national accounts that are necessary to prepare transformation plans, in cooperation with the other bodies.

23. Use national accounts data and available sector data from the relevant bodies to prepare publications about social and economic indicators.

24. Conduct research and studies to develop the work of the Authority, and represent the Great Jamahiriya in scientific associations, international bodies, and other bodies specializing in the field of the Authority’s activities.

25. Supervise, follow up with, and oversee affairs related to mail and telecommunications, and follow the activities of companies falling under the Authority’s jurisdiction in this area.

26. Prepare the digitisation of telecommunications services.

27. Propose technical specifications and standards for telecommunications systems.

28. Supervise satellite projects, and apply and implement legislation related to them.

29. Supervise the implementation of legislation related to telecommunications systems.

30. Supervise and develop electronic administration, and provide the necessary equipment to improve and develop it, in a manner that complies with international regimes.

31. Study the relevant international treaties and conventions and propose concluding and joining them; participate in conferences and seminars, present their decisions and recommendations for adoption, and follow up on their implementation, in coordination with the relevant entities.

32. Any other tasks entrusted to it, in accordance with the regulations and legislation.

Article (4)

In order to achieve its purposes, the Authority may take actions that allow it to carry out these tasks, particularly the following:

1. Request assistance from the public bodies and cooperate with scientific institutes, databases, and information banks in the various fields of knowledge, particularly those that conduct activities similar to those of the Authority.
2. Hold trainings within the Great Jamahiriya in the area of the Authority’s specialisation, in coordination with the competent entities.
3. Request assistance from experts and specialists to perform tasks entrusted to the Authority.

Article (5)

The Authority shall be administered by a People’s Committee that shall be formed, and it shall exercise its competencies in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Article (6)

The Secretary of the People’s Committee of the Authority shall have the broadest powers to conduct its affairs and see to its matters. In particular, he shall assume the following competencies directly:

1. Implement the plans and public programs of the Authority; manage, coordinate, and guide its work; and oversee the Authority.
2. Manage the professional affairs of workers within the Authority, in accordance with the regulations and legislation in force.
3. Prepare the Authority’s budgets and final account, and the present the same for adoption.
4. Propose the contracting of necessary loans to transform the activities of the Authority.
5. Prepare periodic reports about the activities of the Authority.
6. Represent the Authority in its relations with other entities and before the judiciary, and sign contracts related to its activities.

Article (7)

The Authority shall provide advice and technical services in the field of its specialisation to public bodies. It shall provide its services to other entities for monetary compensation that shall be determined in accordance with the bases and regulations issued by a decree by the Secretariat of the General People’s Committee, based on a proposal from the Secretary of the People’s Committee for the Authority.

Article (8)

The financial resources of the Authority shall consist of the following:

1. Appropriations allocated to it from the public budget.
2. Revenue generated in return for services provided to other entities.
3. Unconditioned donations and aid accepted by the Administration Committee.
4. The proceeds of loans concluded by the Authority.

Article (9)

The Authority shall have an independent budget that shall be prepared in accordance with the accounting systems in use in the State. The financial year of the Authority shall begin at the start of the financial year of the State and end when the State’s financial year ends. The first financial year shall begin as of the date on which this decree comes into effect and end when the current financial year ends.

Article (10)

The Authority shall open a bank account with one of the banks working in the Great Jamahiriya.

Article (11)

The Secretariat of the General People’s Committee of the Financial and Technical Oversight Unit shall inspect and review of the Authority’s accounts, in accordance with the provisions of Law No. (11) of 1425 FBP referred to above, and the amendments thereof.

Article (12)

Workers in the Authority concerning whom a decree is issued by the General People’s Committee based on a proposal by the Authority shall hold the status of judicial officers in matters related to the work of the Authority and regulating crimes committed in violation of the legislative provisions that organise its work.

Article (13)

The organisational structure of Authority shall be comprised of a number of departments and offices. A decree shall be issued by the General People’s Committee determining these departments and offices and enumerating their divisions and competences, based on a proposal from the Secretary of the People’s Committee of the Authority.

Article (14)

The following entities shall be fall under the Authority’s jurisdiction:

1. The General Post and Telecommunications Company.
2. The Orbit Telecommunications Company.
3. The Libyana Mobile Phone Company.
4. The Telecommunications Committee.

Article (15)

Decision No. (149) of 1993 of the General People’s Committee on the establishment of the National Corporation for Information and Documentation shall be repealed. Any provision in violation of the provisions of this decree shall also be repealed

Article (16)

The assets of the National Corporation for Information and Documentation and of its branches, which were abolished by the previous article, shall be transferred to the General Authority for Information, Documentation, and Telecommunications after they are counted and assessed by one or more committees that shall be formed. The results of the work of these committees shall be adopted through a decree by Secretary of the General People’s Committee, which shall only be accountable for that which lies within the bounds of its purview. The workers from the abolished Corporation and its branches shall be transferred – maintaining the same employment status – to the General Authority for Information, Documentation, and Telecommunications.

Article (17)

This law shall enter into force from its date of issuance. It shall be published in the Code of Procedure, and the relevant bodies shall implement it.

General People’s Committee – Libya

Issued in 1373 FDP

Corresponding to 2005 AD