State in Syria

The Syrian Arab Republic is the formal state of Syria. The Constitutional Declaration is the current transitional constitutional framework and contains 53 articles. It defines Syria as an indivisible territorial and political unit, prohibits the transfer of territory and establishes Arabic as the official language. The President must be Muslim, Islamic jurisprudence is a principal source of legislation, and the declaration protects religious freedom, cultural and linguistic rights, equality and rights contained in ratified human-rights treaties. Existing laws remain in force under Article 51 unless they are amended or repealed. The declaration protects freedom of opinion, expression, information and the press, privacy, movement and a fair hearing, subject to limits connected with national security, territorial integrity, public safety and order, crime prevention, public health and morals. The Presidency and Council of Ministers form the executive. President Ahmad al-Sharaa appoints and dismisses vice presidents and ministers, serves as commander in chief, represents the state, signs treaties, introduces legislation and may issue a reasoned veto within one month. The cabinet formed on 30 March 2025 includes foreign affairs, defence, interior, justice, finance, local administration and environment, information and administrative development among its main portfolios. The People's Assembly has legislative, budgetary and treaty powers and can hold ministers to account. Two thirds of its members are indirectly selected and one third are appointed by the President; its term is 30 months and may be renewed. In July 2026 it had 206 members, including 22 women, with 70 presidential appointments, including 15 women. The judiciary includes regular and administrative courts. The Supreme Judicial Council supervises the regular and military courts, while the State Council handles administrative justice and the State Cases Administration operates within the Ministry of Justice. The Supreme Constitutional Court has seven presidentially appointed members and was established on 5 July 2026, including two women. People can use petitions and legal proceedings, challenge administrative acts through judicial review and rely on defence, appeal and the presumption of innocence, although institutional independence is still being consolidated. Court and administrative fees and deadlines vary by sector and do not have one reliable national schedule. Syria is formally organised into 14 governorates, including Damascus, Rural Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Idlib, Lattakia, Tartous, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, Hasakah, Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida. The administrative chain generally runs from the central state through the governorate, district and subdistrict to municipal or other local administrative units. The Ministry of Local Administration and Environment, governors, municipalities and local units share responsibility for territorial administration. The former separate administration in north-eastern Syria has been undergoing formal integration: the 10 March 2025 agreement covered civil and military institutions, crossings, airports and oil and gas, while agreements of 18 and 29 January 2026 operationalised the process. On 25 August 2026, the Syrian Democratic Forces were officially dissolved as an independent military structure and civilian structures of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria were integrated into state institutions. Hasakah retains local representation and a local police element linked to the Ministry of Interior. Formal territorial unity therefore does not yet produce equal administrative access or security in every area. Public services are commonly accessed through ministries, governorate offices, Civil Affairs, the Civil Registry and municipal units. Birth and civil-status registration supports access to education and other services. Returning residents may also need civil-registry records and housing, land and property documents. Civil-registry centres are being digitised, but administrative delays, closed offices, damaged infrastructure and difficult property documentation continue to delay returns and service access. Fees and processing times depend on the service and location; no reliable national fee table or standard service deadline applies across the country. Citizens, returnees and internally displaced people may face different practical requirements depending on their documentation. Public finance follows an annual budget process from appropriation to execution and final accounts. In 2025, public revenue was about 384.2 billion new Syrian pounds and expenditure about 379.2 billion, leaving a surplus of roughly 5 billion; customs supplied about 39% of revenue and wages and salaries represented about 41% of expenditure. The 2026 Citizen Budget projected revenue of 958.8 billion new Syrian pounds, approximately 8.716 billion US dollars, and expenditure of 1,156.7 billion, approximately 10.516 billion US dollars. Its revenue composition was 50% taxes, fees and customs, 28% oil and gas and 22% other sources; expenditure was 60% current spending, 27% investment and 13% support and social security. During the first half of 2026, actual revenue was about 2.7 billion US dollars against expenditure of about 3.7 billion, producing a deficit of about 1 billion. Oil and gas proceeds have been transferred to the Ministry of Finance since May 2026. The Central Bank introduced a new currency, but the banking system remains dysfunctional and has limited policy tools. A World Bank grant of 100 million US dollars for financial-sector modernisation and a 20 million US dollar public-financial-management reform project support institutional recovery. Tax, customs and lawful public-procurement duties apply according to the relevant rules. Oversight is provided by the Central Organization of Financial Control, the Central Agency for Supervision and Inspection, prosecutors, courts and the People's Assembly. In 2025, the Central Organization of Financial Control reported 246 corruption cases, 54 travel bans and 62 precautionary seizures. Audits remain only partly disclosed, although risk-based methods aligned with INTOSAI standards are being developed. Complaints, inspections and audits can lead to documentation, referral, judicial action, asset freezes or recovery. No fully verified independent ombudsman equivalent was identified in the available national review. Transitional justice is intended to address truth, accountability, reparations and institutional reform through due process. The National Transitional Justice Commission and the National Commission for Missing Persons are developing information systems, mapping mass graves and consulting on legislation; consultation on the missing-persons law involved about 500 stakeholders. These processes are expected to take several years and require public-body cooperation and preservation of records. The Constitutional Declaration recognises expression, information, publication, press, association and union activity. The Ministry of Information, its Foreign Media Department, SANA and media-licensing authorities regulate access and professional activity. A professional and ethical Media Code of Conduct was launched in 2026 after consultations with more than 1,000 journalists. Foreign journalists need official entry and work permits, and licensing authorities may suspend non-compliant outlets or platforms. The legal guarantees therefore coexist with permit and security controls. No conclusively verified new parties or associations law was identified in the reviewed material. The state claims a formal monopoly over armed force. The Constitutional Declaration prohibits private military or paramilitary formations and reserves weapons to the state. Defence and interior authorities, the professional national army, Internal Security Forces, local police, General Security Forces and the National Security Council form the main security structure. Integration arrangements provide for vetting and placement of former SDF members, state control of prisons and Islamic State detainees, and the transfer of crossings, airports and energy facilities to state authority. Effective security nevertheless remains uneven because of Islamic State attacks, illicit arms and narcotics, unexploded ordnance, local violence in Sweida, Israeli incursions and shelling affecting Quneitra and Daraa, movement restrictions and wider regional involvement. The President may declare a state of emergency for up to three months after approval by the National Security Council; a second extension requires approval by the People's Assembly. Arrest or detention generally requires a judicial decision, except in cases of being caught in the act, and the declaration protects dignity and prohibits torture and enforced disappearance.