Draft Transitional Justice Law to Include Compensation for HLP Violations

Syria’s draft Transitional Justice Law provides for the establishment of a special Compensation Fund for people harmed by violations committed by the Assad regime. This includes those affected by the loss of or damage to their real estate properties. 

The inclusion of the Compensation Fund comes as the draft Transitional Justice Law, a copy of which was obtained by The Syria Report, once finalised, is expected to be presented to the People’s Assembly, whose full formation is anticipated in the coming months.

The fund constitutes one of the core tracks of the National Transitional Justice Commission, at a time when questions relating to its sources of funding, mechanisms of operation, and compensation criteria remain under discussion, alongside a larger bet on linking reparations to legislative reform that would prevent a repeat of the housing, land, and property violations of recent years.

Last August, Transitional President Ahmad Al-Sharaa issued Decree No. 149, establishing a National Transitional Justice Commission. The commission was tasked with holding accountable those involved in crimes committed during the rule of the former regime, in addition to working to repair the harm suffered by victims. The commission has several tracks,  including the reparations track, which encompasses addressing material and moral damage, including damage related to private property rights.

The Director of the Reparations Department at the National Transitional Justice Commission, Ahmad Hazroumeh, told The Syria Report that the draft Transitional Justice Law includes a specific provision for the establishment of a Compensation Fund, adding that the fund will cover all victims while prioritising those most severely affected.

Determining these priorities requires in-depth studies, Mr Hazroumeh said, given the scale and diversity of the damage, stressing that approval of the draft law by the People’s Assembly constitutes an essential step before moving to any implementation phase, alongside efforts to ensure that the fund enjoys financial and administrative independence.

According to Mr Hazroumeh, funding for the planned compensation could come from several channels, including the allocation of a budget line from the state’s general budget. He also pointed to the possibility of benefiting from recovered funds within the framework of efforts to retrieve looted assets, whether inside or outside Syria, given that this matter falls within the mandate of the National Transitional Justice Commission, which would allow a portion of these funds to be directed towards compensating those affected.

He added that external and internal assistance could form an additional source of funding for the fund, through support campaigns dedicated to this purpose, in line with the fund’s stated objective of repairing the harm suffered by victims.

As for compensation mechanisms, Mr Hazroumeh explained that the coming phase will involve work on developing pilot programmes before generalising any compensation model, whether with respect to property-related damage or other forms of harm. He noted that the commission faces significant challenges in this file, most notably determining whether it is possible to compensate all those affected, establishing clear priority criteria, identifying the categories that meet the conditions for compensation, and determining the most vulnerable groups with whom compensation efforts can begin.

He indicated that these questions remain under examination, within the framework of efforts to formulate a compensation mechanism that is implementable within the available resources and consistent with the commission’s legal mandate.

According to Mr Hazroumeh, it is key to prevent a repeat of the Assad-era HLP violations, including expropriation decrees. He explained that work is currently underway to develop a legislative environment that enables the implementation of the tasks entrusted to the commission within its substantive mandate, thereby contributing to preventing the recurrence of violations related to property and housing rights.

Non-recurrence of violations is linked to institutional reform and the rebuilding of a sound legislative system, Mr Hazroumeh said, pointing out that the state had previously been based on patronage networks whose influence was reinforced through legislation designed specifically to serve them. This structure contributed to HLP violations as well as politically motivated demographic change policies.

Finally, Mr Hazroumeh explained that the Reparations Department is also tasked with monitoring laws that entail violations of property rights and submitting recommendations to the competent authorities, whether through administrative recommendations or advocacy. At the same time, he pointed to the difficulty of working on this file, given the need to deal with a broad system of laws related to property and housing rights, issued at different periods and varying in content. He didn’t provide further details as the draft law is not yet approved.