Lebanon’s Parliament Approves Abolition Of Death Penalty, Justice Minister Adel Nassar Says

Lebanon’s parliament approved the abolition of the death penalty on Tuesday, making it the first Middle East country to end capital punishment and enacting into law a practice that had effectively been in place for 22 years, with a moratorium since January 2004.

“The Lebanese parliament approved the abolition of the death penalty on Tuesday”

The National

Justice Minister Adel Nassar told The National, “I’m very honoured Lebanon has passed this law and Lebanon has retrieved its pioneering role as the protector of fundamental rights,” as the bill was the first on the agenda of a lengthy two-day General Assembly called by parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri.

Amnesty International UK

The vote came as the 128-seat parliament was also expected to debate a closely linked and highly controversial amnesty law later on Tuesday, with any law needing the support of a majority of MPs present to pass.

Amnesty International UK said the approval marked “a major milestone and a victory for human rights in the country,” while noting that Lebanese authorities must now ensure that all death sentences are commuted and ratify the key international treaty on abolition.

The bill still needed to be sent to the cabinet and then to President Joseph Aoun for approval, with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam among those in the chamber on Tuesday.

Amnesty International UK reported that on 11 August the Lebanese parliament approved a law that abolishes the death penalty and replaces it with life imprisonment with hard labour as an alternative sentence.

The SRN News account of the vote said Lebanon’s parliament Tuesday abolished the death penalty, making it the first country in the Arab world to replace the sentencing with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labor, while noting that a majority of Lebanon’s 128-member parliament voted in favor with the exception of the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc.

i24NEWS

Justice Minister Adel Nassar called the abolition a “historic step” for the country, and the AP-linked SRN News report said he was in Parliament for the vote.

Amnesty International UK said Lebanon has not carried out any executions since 17 January 2004 and that, as of the end of January 2026, 85 people remained on death row according to the Directorate of Prisons at the Ministry of Justice.

The National also described the legal shift as death sentences being commuted to life imprisonment, with courts unable to issue the death penalty if the bill cleared the final hurdles.

Amnesty International UK said the law is due to be transmitted to the President for final signature and published in the Official Gazette before entering into force, and it urged Lebanese authorities to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to make abolition irreversible under international human rights law.

“The law is due to be transmitted to the President for final signature”

Amnesty International UK

The National reported that the bill still needed to be sent to the cabinet and then to President Joseph Aoun for approval, and it said Nassar added, “It wouldn’t have been possible if the president and cabinet was not supportive.”

Libnanews described the August 11–12 session as placing the abolition among the first texts examined, with the stakes both legal and political because Lebanon has carried out no executions since 2004 while courts can still sentence people to death.

Libnanews also said the examined text would not release people currently sentenced to death, stating that sentences already pronounced would benefit from the new legal regime and be transformed in accordance with the substitution penalty chosen.

Amnesty International UK framed the immediate consequence as turning “a precarious hiatus in executions into lasting legal protection upholding the right to life,” while also calling for broader reforms to strengthen a justice system based on dignity, fairness and respect for human rights.