Syria Scraps Assad-Era Terrorism Court as Fuel Protests Test New Parliament
Syria's parliament voted to abolish the Counter-Terrorism Court created under Bashar al-Assad and to cancel the legal effects of its rulings. Al Jazeera
The vote made formal what the new authorities were already doing in practice. Damascus had stopped using the court after the old government fell, but its laws, staff listings and past verdicts were still on the books until parliament acted.
The court was set up in 2012. Under al-Assad, it prosecuted thousands of Syrians for terrorism-related offenses. Lawyers and rights monitors criticized its procedures for years. They said a very broad definition of terrorism, combined with a special court outside the normal criminal system, allowed detention and convictions without standard protections, such as a regular trial with full rights to defense and appeal.
Two earlier decisions pointed toward abolition. In June 2025, President Ahmed al-Sharaa dismissed 67 judges who had served in what he called the abolished Counter-Terrorism Court. Syria's constitutional declaration in March 2025 had called for canceling the effects of unjust rulings by the court, including return of confiscated property. In 2024, the United Nations Human Rights Committee said the 2012 law behind the court did not provide basic guarantees of fair justice. It raised concerns about arbitrary detention, torture or ill-treatment, and whether the court was independent.
The vote came in the first weeks of the first parliament formed since al-Assad was toppled. It met for the first time in July. The al-Assad family's 53-year rule ended on December 8, 2024. Syria's military courts remain suspended. ICCT
The broader context here is transitional justice as statecraft, or how a new state addresses abuses by the old one. Canceling the rulings goes further than simply closing the court. It gives backing in parliamentary law to claims for repayment, recovery of property and appeals of convictions, rather than relying only on presidential orders. The practical questions now are whether the law applies backward to old cases, what proof will be needed to review them, and which regular court, if any, will rehear terrorism cases under the normal criminal code.
Parliament acted while facing a separate dispute in the northeast. Hundreds of oil tanker trucks were stuck in the Kurdish region after protesters blocked a major highway near Tal Tamr over rising fuel prices. The blockade cut off a major route for moving fuel.
On the Sunday before the vote, the government raised petrol prices by about 30 percent and diesel by 40 percent. It cited higher world fuel prices linked to the US-Israel war on Iran and repair work at the Baniyas refinery. Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir is due to face questions in parliament on Thursday about the increase.
Separately, there is a push to place the Kurd-led Syrian Democratic Forces under the central army's command, under an integration agreement reached in August. On August 25, 2026, the Syrian Democratic Forces said it had dissolved after merging with the Syrian army. The Hill Commander Mazloum Abdi announced the formal end of the group as a separate force. The dissolution came under a deal that recognizes Kurdish rights. The government had announced a ceasefire, a halt to fighting, with the Syrian Democratic Forces in January. Kurds made up about 10 percent of Syria's 23 million people before the civil war began in 2011.
Looking at what this means for Damascus, the two files test central authority in different ways. The court vote builds legal control. Merging forces tests control of territory. Fuel prices sit in the middle. They are budget policy, but in the northeast they will show whether joining the army and administration keeps fuel supply, support payments and local bargaining power intact. How parliament manages repayment for court victims on one side and oversight of energy prices on the other will show how much the post-Assad settlement runs through lawmakers rather than orders from above.
