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Syrian Constitutional Committee
The Syrian Constitutional Committee was a United Nations-facilitated constituent assembly process that sought, in the context of the Syrian civil war, to reconcile the Ba'athist regime of President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian opposition, by amending the current or adopting a new Constitution of Syria. The UN hopes that this would lead to negotiations which would subsequently lead to a peaceful end of the conflict, which had been raging for more than eight years by the time of the committee's formation. The Constitutional Committee was formed with the formal approval of both parties involved—namely the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Syrian Negotiation Commission representing the opposition, with the facilitation of the United Nations.
It was described by UN Secretary-General António Guterres as part of a "Syrian-owned and Syrian-led" peace process. The decisions it took were not binding under Syrian law and the committee relies on the good faith of both parties for their implementation. The committee was also not bound by any deadlines or timetables.
The Committee had achieved no results by the time Assad was overthrown in December 2024. After Assad's fall, new president Ahmed al-Sharaa set up a domestic advisory committee which drafted an interim Syrian constitution.
The proposal for the creation of a committee to amend Syria's constitution can be traced back to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, which was adopted in December 2015. The resolution provided a framework for the creation of such a committee, but its implementation was delayed until after the Geneva peace talks on Syria and then later delayed until a rough framework agreement was reached in Russia in January 2018.
The formation of the committee was delayed numerous times, as both sides strongly disagreed on its composition and as the armed conflict continued throughout the negotiations.
By the time the committee's composition was agreed upon, the Syrian Government had managed to gain control of the majority of the country's territory through military means. But millions of Syrians have been forcibly displaced, with about half of Syria's pre-war population living outside of the country.
Even as the committee's membership list neared its final draft, arguments emerged over which members should be picked to 'represent civil society' – as both the Syrian Government and Opposition attempted to influence the selection of the figures from the UN's list. The Constitutional Committee, including a package agreement on the Terms of Reference and Core Rules of Procedure of, and nominees to the Constitutional Committee was finalized to on 23 September 2019 after a meeting between UN envoy Geir Pedersen and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, and after consultations with the opposition.
The Constitutional Committee was convened by and is facilitated by the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Otto Pedersen, a Norwegian diplomat, who noted that the committee was the "first concrete political agreement between the Government and the Opposition to begin to implement a key aspect of Security Council resolution 2254 – to set a schedule and process for a new constitution".
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Syrian Constitutional Committee
The Syrian Constitutional Committee was a United Nations-facilitated constituent assembly process that sought, in the context of the Syrian civil war, to reconcile the Ba'athist regime of President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian opposition, by amending the current or adopting a new Constitution of Syria. The UN hopes that this would lead to negotiations which would subsequently lead to a peaceful end of the conflict, which had been raging for more than eight years by the time of the committee's formation. The Constitutional Committee was formed with the formal approval of both parties involved—namely the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Syrian Negotiation Commission representing the opposition, with the facilitation of the United Nations.
It was described by UN Secretary-General António Guterres as part of a "Syrian-owned and Syrian-led" peace process. The decisions it took were not binding under Syrian law and the committee relies on the good faith of both parties for their implementation. The committee was also not bound by any deadlines or timetables.
The Committee had achieved no results by the time Assad was overthrown in December 2024. After Assad's fall, new president Ahmed al-Sharaa set up a domestic advisory committee which drafted an interim Syrian constitution.
The proposal for the creation of a committee to amend Syria's constitution can be traced back to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, which was adopted in December 2015. The resolution provided a framework for the creation of such a committee, but its implementation was delayed until after the Geneva peace talks on Syria and then later delayed until a rough framework agreement was reached in Russia in January 2018.
The formation of the committee was delayed numerous times, as both sides strongly disagreed on its composition and as the armed conflict continued throughout the negotiations.
By the time the committee's composition was agreed upon, the Syrian Government had managed to gain control of the majority of the country's territory through military means. But millions of Syrians have been forcibly displaced, with about half of Syria's pre-war population living outside of the country.
Even as the committee's membership list neared its final draft, arguments emerged over which members should be picked to 'represent civil society' – as both the Syrian Government and Opposition attempted to influence the selection of the figures from the UN's list. The Constitutional Committee, including a package agreement on the Terms of Reference and Core Rules of Procedure of, and nominees to the Constitutional Committee was finalized to on 23 September 2019 after a meeting between UN envoy Geir Pedersen and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, and after consultations with the opposition.
The Constitutional Committee was convened by and is facilitated by the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Otto Pedersen, a Norwegian diplomat, who noted that the committee was the "first concrete political agreement between the Government and the Opposition to begin to implement a key aspect of Security Council resolution 2254 – to set a schedule and process for a new constitution".