It is unique in publishing the final version of the General Amnesty Law, revealing in detail the most prominent amendments to its articles compared to the formula that had been approved by the joint parliamentary committees.
A comparison between the two texts shows that the changes were not formal, but rather affected basic articles related to the scope of the amnesty and exceptions to it, financial and banking crimes, drugs, conditions for reducing penalties, and periods of detention, in addition to the fate of the beneficiary of the amnesty in the event that he commits a new crime.
In the first article, the joint committees’ formula stipulated that amnesty leads to the erasure of the original and subsidiary penalties and precautionary measures imposed, before the final formula deleted the reference to the subsidiary penalties and precautionary measures, and limited the erasure to the original penalties. An amendment was also introduced relating to prosecutions, rulings and administrative decisions issued against employees, with the exception of those related to charges of financial corruption.
The second article, which specifies the crimes excluded from the amnesty, witnessed broader amendments.
In the drug file, the wording moved from excluding “repeated drug felonies” in general to not benefiting perpetrators of repeat felonies that exceed the second time, whether judgments were issued or not. It also kept all drug crimes committed by military personnel and members of security institutions outside the amnesty, while the final version explicitly stipulated that crimes of cultivating narcotic substances would be included in the amnesty if they were committed before the law was issued.
In financial and banking crimes, the change was more evident. While the committees’ version generally referred to the Anti-Corruption Law in the Public Sector, the final version specified the crimes of forgery, counterfeiting and promoting national and foreign currencies, undermining the state’s financial standing, and fraudulent bankruptcy, in addition to the crimes stipulated in the Money and Credit Law and other laws and regulations related to banking, as crimes excluded from the amnesty.
The exception related to illicit enrichment was also reformulated to include crimes related to the embezzlement, mistrust, or theft of public funds, and funds belonging to financial and banking institutions, in addition to tax evasion.
The final text left the crimes stipulated in the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law, and crimes violating the Money and Credit Law, especially those related to depositors’ funds and banking crimes of all kinds, outside the scope of the amnesty.
As for Article Three, it kept the death penalty reduced to 28 years in prison, life imprisonment with hard labor to 17 years, and all remaining penalties reduced by a third. However, the basic change occurred in the condition of forfeiting the personal right.
Instead of linking the benefit of the reduction in general to the forfeiture of the personal right if the victim has assumed the status of a personal claim, the final version limited this condition to crimes of premeditated or intentional murder that are associated with or accompanied by aggravating circumstances, including rape or sexual assault, torture, brutality, mutilation or kidnapping, and the commission of the crime by an ascendant or descendant or by someone who has authority, guardianship, or guardianship over the victim, in addition to political assassination. In these cases, the convicted person does not benefit from the reduction if the aggrieved party took the status of a personal claimant before March 1, 2026, except after the personal right has been dropped.
In Article Four, the rules relating to personal rights and compensation remained, but the final text replaced the detailed references to the numbers of legal articles with a general phrase referring to the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Penal Code.
But one of the most notable amendments appeared in Article Five.
The formula of the joint committees linked the release of the defendant against whom no ruling was issued to the period of his detention exceeding 14 years, while the final text reduced this period to 12 years in prison, provided that the defendant is released by a ruling and his trial continues in accordance with legal principles.
As for Article Six, it witnessed a fundamental change in dealing with the beneficiary of an amnesty if he returns and commits a new crime.
The final text distinguished between a misdemeanor and a felony. If the beneficiary commits a misdemeanor after the law is published, his punishment for the new offense will be increased in accordance with the provisions of Article 257 of the Penal Code. However, if he commits a felony, his pardon will be forfeited and his sentence or trial will be resumed from the stage it was in before the law was issued, in addition to his trial for the new crime. The five-year deadline mentioned in the committee formula is no longer present in the final text.
On the other hand, Articles 7 to 11 did not witness fundamental changes in their content, as the non-Lebanese who benefited from the law remained handed over to the General Directorate of Public Security, non-refundable fees, insurances, fines and confiscated items, and exemption from fines for those who completed their sentence and remained imprisoned due to non-payment of them, in addition to amending Article 205 of the Penal Code and the law entering into force immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette.
Thus, the final version, which is unique to be published, reveals that the basic amendments were concentrated in specific articles, but they carried changes that had direct effects on the beneficiaries of the amnesty and on the crimes excluded from it, especially in financial, banking, and drug files, in addition to reducing the ceiling of detention from 14 to 12 years and tightening the sentences against those who benefit from the amnesty and then commit a new felony.
To view the full amnesty law, click here.
