Accounting and Libya's Transition

This assignment delves into the crucial role of accounting in shaping Libya's economic landscape, particularly amidst its ongoing political transition. It examines historical developments in accounting practices within Libya, analyzes their influence on financial reporting and corporate governance, and investigates how these factors contribute to or hinder sustainable economic growth. The assignment further explores the challenges and opportunities facing the Libyan accounting profession as the country strives for stability and prosperity.

Chapter 3: Corruption in the Petroleum Resource Industry in Libya
Introduction
According to Benjamin the global scale and nature of the oil and gas industry along with
complexity related to operations and contractual connection with the venture partners,
contractors and suppliers as well as anti-corruption and anti-bribery law implementation need
increased focus by the management1. The risk of Bribery and corruption is rapidly becoming a
significant concern for the oil and gas sector. There is huge sum of capital and profits involved in
the sector which invites corruption. As stated by Abdallah, Mirvat, and Houssam Salami the
problem with corruption is most significant in the developing countries because of their legal
system and weak regulatory authorities2.
The purpose of this paper is to develop a proper framework for Libya in relation to
corruption in the oil and gas sector. The main primary source of income in Libya is through the
oil and gas industry. Corruption can pose a significant hurdle in the development of the country
as it restricts its independent power of decision making and institutional foundations. Developed
countries like Australia and UK have a well-coordinated and tested corruption policy in place to
take care of corruption in the sector such as the Independent Commission Against Corruption
(New South Wales). However such policies can be implemented in Libya or not is a great doubt.
This is because the legal system of the country is based in religious content and mainly on
1 Sovacool, Benjamin K. "Countering a corrupt oil boom: energy justice, natural resource funds, and São Tomé e
Príncipe's Oil Revenue Management Law." Environmental Science & Policy 55 (2016): 196-207.
2 Abdallah, Mirvat, and Houssam Salami. "Overview of the Oil and Gas exploration in Lebanon." Gas and Oil
Conference (MedGO), 2015 International Mediterranean. IEEE, 2015.

Islamic Syrian Law. Therefore any change in the corruption policy of the country has to be
consistent to the Islamic provisions.
In addition the Libyan government is a single bureaucracy and therefore it is a doubt that
whether the policies which have been implemented in Australia having a federal government
could be successfully implemented in Libya or not. The paper aims to provide a corruption
management framework for the country.
The Libyan context
Libya (lɪbiə/ or /ˈlɪbjə/; Arabic: ليبيا) is a developing Arab state located in the northern coast of
the African continent, bordered by Algeria and Tunisia in the west, the Mediterranean Sea in the
north, Egypt and Sudan in the east and Chad and Niger in the south as illustrated in Figure (1).
The capital city of the country is Tripoli located in the east with the other large city Benghazi
located in the west. Libya is a small country by population with a large area of land. It is the
fourth largest country in land mass size in Africa and the seventeenth largest in the world.3 It
occupies a huge area of 1,759,540 square kilometers (700,000 square miles) and has 1,900
kilometers of coastline.4
Figure (1): Map of Republic of Libya
3Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook<https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
geos/ly.html>
4Ibid

The first census of Libya was conducted in 1954; the population at that time was only
1,080,000.5 Since 1954, the census has been conducted every ten years. The last census of Libya
undertaken in 2009 indicated that Libya has a population of 6,411,776 people.6 30 per cent of
population in Libya is under the age of 15 and most of population is concentrated along the
Mediterranean coastline.7
All Libyans are Muslims and follow the Maliki sect. Arabic is the official language in
Libya.8The climate of Libya has marked seasonal variations mainly influenced by the
Mediterranean Sea and the desert. It has a mild Mediterranean climate along the coast, an arid
desert weather prevails in the rest of the country. Libya is the eleventh largest oil producer in the
world.9
5Fathi Naser Bribesh, The quality of corporate annual reports : evidence from Libya (Doctoral Thesis, University of
Glamorgan, 2006)
6Central Intelligence Agency, above n XXX
7Ibid
8Although the Amazigh language is spoken in some parts of the country.
9F. DiPiazza, Libya in Pictures (Twenty First Century Books, 2005) spell out first name

The oil-rich countries, many of which can be classified as developing, experienced substantially
increased revenue as a result of increased oil prices during the period of the late 1970s and early
1980s, and then after 2000. However, many oil-rich countries exhibit some of the lowest
economic and social indicators in the world.10 Oil-exporting countries achieve a lower long-run
economic growth rate when compared with non-oil producing and exporting
economies,11121314and their income and government revenues experience much higher volatility as
a result of turbulence in the price of oil.1516
The Libyan economy is no exception to that of other resource abundant countries. Although
Libya has been a considerable producer of crude oil since the 1960s, it displays lower economic
and social indicators when compared with other developing oil and non-oil producing
economies17The country's lack of transparency, inefficient government institutions, widespread
corruption and misuse of its oil revenue contributed to the under-performance of its economic
growth and development. This recently resulted in traumatic political and economic upheaval
10Francisco Carneiro, 'Development challenges of resource-rich countries: the case of oil exporters' (Paper presented
at the Proceedings of the VI International Colloquium, 2007)
11Richard M Auty, Resource abundance and economic development (Oxford University Press, 2001), Masoud Nili
and Mahdi Rastad, 'Addressing the growth failure of the oil economies: The role of financial development' (2007)
46(5) The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance 726, Jeffrey D Sachs and Andrew M Warner, 'The big push,
natural resource booms and growth' (1999) 59(1) Journal of Development Economics 43, Marc Badia-Miró, Vicente
Pinilla and Henry Willebald, Natural Resources and Economic Growth: Learning from History (Routledge, 2015)
12
13
14
15Mr Steven Barnett and Mr Rolando Ossowski, Operational aspects of fiscal policy in oil-producing countries
(International Monetary Fund, 2002), Ricardo Hausmann and Roberto Rigobon, 'An alternative interpretation of
the'Resource Curse': theory and policy implications' (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2003)
16
17 Esposito, John L, Islam and politics (Syracuse University Press, 1998)

arising from an eight-month long civil war that led to the ending of 42 years of dictatorship
under Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011. The cost of the war was enormous with huge loss of
life, major economic dysfunction, and destruction of the country's infrastructure and reduced oil
production, the country's major source of revenue generation and exports. Production fell from
1.6 million barrels per day before the war to 50,000 barrels a day during the war; much of the
sector’s support infrastructure was also destroyed.18
Oil wealth in Libya has been seen as a curse and not a blessing. One possible explanation for the
natural resource curse is that natural resource wealth tends to cause a conflict with the usage of
the resources, which in turn leads to poor institutional quality and lower growth. The argument
here is that the large revenue generated from the natural resource sector creates motivations for
interested groups, such as government officials and local or foreign investors, to engage in rent-
seeking behaviour, which can be in the form of voracity, corruption or even civil conflict as in
the case of Nigeria.192021This behaviour can lead to economic failure and political crisis, including
a collapse in none-natural resource production, capital flight, higher inflation, poor institutional
quality and hence lower growth. Institutions play an important role in determining the
government’s ability to adopt and implement policies that would mitigate risks that may have
adverse effects upon economic growth.22 Countries with well-established institutions will be able
to implement sound policies in response to external shocks, and hence will be able to maintain
18Issa Ali and Charles Harvie, 'Oil and economic development: Libya in the post-Gaddafi era' (2013) 32 Economic
Modelling 273
19Hausmann and Rigobon, above n xxx
20Dani Rodrik, In search of prosperity: Analytic narratives on economic growth (Princeton University Press, 2003)
refer to relevant page numbres
21Carlos A Leite and Jens Weidmann, 'Does mother nature corrupt? Natural resources, corruption, and economic
growth' (1999) (99/85) Natural Resources, Corruption, and Economic Growth (June 1999). IMF Working Paper
AVAILABLE AT CITE THE WEBSITE
22Rodrik, above n xxx

their economic growth. On the other hand, the lack of such institutions result in poor policy
choices, therefore deepening and extending the negative effects of the external shock.
The second possible explanation from the literature is that economic factors arising from the
boom in there source (oil) sector and its revenue volatility are the primary causes of the natural
resource curse. It suggests that natural resource wealth may result in lower growth in the non-
resource sector. This can be briefly summarised as the notion that a boom in one tradable sector,
such as oil, contributes toward a contraction of other non-booming tradable sectors such as the
manufacturing sector. That is, the windfall revenues arising from the oil sector brings about a
real exchange rate appreciation, which in turn reduces the competitiveness of the non-resource
tradable sector, thus undermining the growth of the non-resource tradable sector23. It also leads to
undermining of economic growth in the non-booming tradable sector by reallocating production
factors towards the natural resource sector and non-tradable sector.2425 2627
Political situation
Libya has been subject to waves of military invasions and colonization throughout its history
until its independence in 1951.282930 During Ottoman control, Libya had an economy that mainly
depended on subsistence primitive agriculture. As a result of the low and irregular rainfall and
23 Robert K Eastwood and Anthony J Venables, 'The macroeconomic implications of a resource discovery in an
open economy' (1982) 92(366) The economic journal 285
24Warner Max Corden, 'Booming sector and Dutch disease economics: survey and consolidation' (1984) 36(3)
oxford economic Papers 359
25W Max Corden and J Peter Neary, 'Booming sector and de-industrialisation in a small open economy' (1982)
92(368) The economic journal 825
26Robert K Eastwood and Anthony J Venables, 'The macroeconomic implications of a resource discovery in an open
economy' (1982) 92(366) The economic journal 285
27J Peter Neary and Sweder van Wijnbergen, 'Can an oil discovery lead to a recession? a comment on eastwood and
venables' (1984) 94(374) The economic journal 390
28John Wright, A history of Libya (Columbia University Press, 2012)
29Alison Pargeter, Libya: The rise and fall of Qaddafi (Yale University Press, 2012)
30Ali Abdullatif Ahmida, 'Libya, Social Origins of Dictatorship, and the Challenge for Democracy' (2012) 3(1) The
Journal of the Middle East and Africa 70

shortage of financial resources, the agricultural activities were limited to subsistence crops and
livestock production which also were used as raw materials for small industries in the country
such as food and clothes. At the same period, the country had no infrastructure such as roads,
ports and rail roads.
In the first two decades of the Italian occupation of Libya, there was significant resistance from
Libyans and the country was in a state of war. However, Libya’s economic situation was
enhanced compared to the Ottoman period. From 1932 substantial investment in agriculture and
industry was made by the Italians. However, Libyans were left in very poor living conditions as
the economy was run fundamentally for the advantage of the Italians.3132The International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (1960) reported:
“...the Libyans paid heavily for what the Italians achieved, they were pushed off the best
farming land in the country, large numbers of their livestock were lost in the
fighting...and their traditional industries suffered severely from competition from Italian
products. Moreover, the Italians did little or nothing to prepare the Libyan people for self-
governance.” (p. 27).
During World War II the Libyan economy was badly affected as many factories, farms, and
livestock were destroyed.33 After World War II, Libya was administered by British and French
military administration operating as caretakers of the country in a transitional period towards
Libya’s independence. Libya become an independent state in 1951 under the rule of King Idris
Al-Sansui and named the United Kingdom of Libya. The country relied on external aid through
the UN agencies which primarily came from the USA and UK to face difficult economic
31Amal Obeidi, Political culture in Libya (Psychology Press, 2001)
32Ahmida, above n
33Obeidi, above n

conditions As a result, Libya formed strong political and economic ties with the UK and USA
which both had military bases in Libya for over two decades starting in 1953.3435A turning point
in Libya’s modern history was the discovery of oil reserves in 1959. The revenues from oil sales
allowed the country to overcome its deficit and create a surplus in the balance of trade leading to
a substantial increase of GDP and per capita income.36 Libya became one of the important
producers of oil and a reasonably wealthy state that still largely depends on the oil sector.37
Despite a significant improvement in the economy and infrastructure in the 1960s, dissatisfaction
appeared amongst Libyans due to the domination of the nation’s wealth by the ruling elite and
the Italian settlers and the rejection of many Libyans of the pro-western political policies adopted
by King Idris Al-Sansui.3839This dissatisfaction gained additional momentum with the rise of the
Arab Nationalism, particularly among younger generation of Libyans who started to call for
change, inspired by Egyptian President Jamal Abdel Nasser (1953-1970) and the call for Arab
Nationalism, Pan-Arabism and restoration of the Islam-Arab identity on its own cultural
foundation.4041 As a result, in September 1969, several pan-Arab and Nasser-inspired officers in
the Libyan Royal Army, led by Colonel Gaddafi, seized power through a military coup.4243 These
officers formed the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) as a governing body chaired by
Gaddafi, and changed the name of the country to the Libyan Arab Republic.444546 To consolidate
34John Wright, Libya: a modern history (Taylor & Francis, 1981)
35Dirk Vandewalle, A history of modern Libya (Cambridge University Press, 2012)
36MB Mahmud and A Russell, 'An empirical investigation of the development of accounting education and practice
in Libya, and of strategies for enhancing accounting education and accounting practice in Libya' (2003) 5 Research
in Emerging Economies 197
37Ibid
38Oxford Business Group, 'The Report, Libya, 2008' (Oxford Business Group, London
2008)
39Ahmida, above n
40Ibid
41Group, above n
42Wright, above n
43Pargeter, above n
44Ibid
45Ahmida, above n
46Pargeter, above n

his power and improve his popularity, Gaddafi announced his intention to place Libya on the
path of anti-imperialist, anti-communist, and anticorruption, with additional ideological
connections to Arab nationalism and Islam.47 Therefore, the new regime began to adopt and
implement a series of reforms and polices under the direct leadership of Gaddafi which
significantly impacted on Libya’s political, economic and social context in the next forty two
years. The new regime started with the request of all companies that were operating in Libya to
be controlled by Libyans, with banks and oil companies being particularly affected. The British
and American military bases in Libya were also requested to leave immediately which occurred
in March and June 1970 respectively. The American experts were replaced by Arabs, primarily
from Egypt. The Arabic language alone was permitted for official stationery and publications.48
Moreover, Gaddafi announced “the Cultural Revolution” in 1973 to encourage more
participation of people in political life by establishing “the People’s Committees” to administer
domestic and regional administration. After that Gaddafi outlined his political, economic and
social views in the Green Book in 1975 which introduced a Government of Masses based on
direct democracy, which later developed to become “the People’s Authority”. This concept is
based on “Shura” Islamic jurisprudence, an Arabic word for consultation, where under Islam all
decisions for the Muslim community should be based on Shura of the Muslim society.49 As a
result, the General People’s Congress (GPC) was established in 1977 as the highest national
legislative body instead of RCC. The official name of the country was changed to the Socialist
People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and the GPC was delegated all legislative and executive
authorities of the country. The GPC later declared that all Libyans exercise their authority via the
Basic People Congresses (BPCs) and the People’s Committees (PCs). Both were founded in all
47Ahmida, above n
48Ibid
49John L Esposito, Islam and politics (Syracuse University Press, 1998)

areas across Libya and male and female Libyans aged 18 years were required to take part in
direct consultation and consensus in their local BPCs. The structure of each BPC included two
bodies: a secretariat of conference and an administrative committee, and a PC as an executive
committee that implemented the decisions and recommendations of the BPC. All BPCs were
members of GPC as well as representatives of professional associations and unions. People in
BPCs discuss and consult on an annual agenda of their local community and the country’s
general issues and make their decisions and recommendations about them. These are later passed
up to the GPC to consider the process of making national polices. Nevertheless, the GPC vested
executive authorities to the General Secretariat of GPC and General People’s Committees
(Ministries). The latter members are secretaries of Libyan ministries and act as the Libyan
government and are responsible for implementing national policies.5051 During the period of the
implementation of this system 1977-2011, Gadhafi himself held a senior position as “the leader
of the revolution” and through his revolutionary instructions practically ruled the country.525354
Moreover, the implementation of this system faced many difficulties and barriers including: (i)
the continued restructuring of the system’s legislative and executive institutions, which affected
the stability of public institutions and the efficiency and effectiveness of public polices in various
areas and sectors; (ii) the concentration of the power of decision making in the hands of
leadership of GPC and secretaries of GPCs which contradicted the main aim of the system of
decentralisation of decision making; (iii) the constant intervention of Gaddafi in all major
50Wright, above n xxx
51Ali A Zagoub, Corporate governance in Libyan commercial banks (University of Dundee, 2011)
52Yahia H Zoubir and Erzsébet N Rózsa, 'The end of the Libyan dictatorship: the uncertain transition' (2012) 33(7)
Third World Quarterly 1267
53Michael E Porter and Daniel Yergin, National economic strategy: an assessment of the competitiveness of the
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (2006)
54Ahmida, above n xxx

decisions of GPC and GPCs which reduced the Libyan people’s trust of the effectiveness of this
system as Gaddafi had an upper hand in all the most important decisions.55565758
During Gaddafi’s rule Libya had an unstable relationship with the west particularly the USA and
UK. For example, many events during the late 1970s and 1980s between Libya and the US
eventually led to the banning of all exports except food and medicine to Libya in 1982 as well as
the importation of Libyan oil into the USA.59 In 1986, additional American economic sanctions
were imposed against Libya, including the freezing of Libyan assets in USA, a total ban on direct
import and export trade, commercial contracts, and travel-related activities including students.
This escalated further when the US attacked Tripoli and Benghazi in April 1986, in retaliation
for a bombing in a Berlin discotheque.60 Moreover, Libya suffered from UN sanctions in the
1990s. The Libyan government was accused of ordering the Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am
flight no.103 in 1988. As a result, the UN imposed a number of sanctions on Libya in 1992 to
force the Libyan government to hand over the two suspected Libyans for trial in a special court.
These sanctions restricted Libya’s diplomatic representation in other countries and banned flights
from and to Libya, the sale of aircrafts and their parts, supply of arms and related materials. In
addition, in 1993 the UN, after strong pressure from the USA, imposed additional sanctions
including freezing Libyan government owned or controlled assets and all funds and financial
resources abroad except funds related to petroleum, air communications, and oil equipment and
banned the transfer of money or assets to Libya.6162 The American and UN sanctions had
55Ibid
56Mogherbi Mohamed, 'Political, Legal and Institutional Requirements for the Privatisation ' in the Privatisation in
the Libyan Economy ( Economic Research Centre. (In Arabic), 2005)
57Porter and Yergin, above n
58Zoubir and Rózsa, above n
59Vandewalle, above n
60Ibid
61Zoubir and Rózsa, above n
62Ahmida, above n

negative influences on Libya. The country faced many difficulties such as an increase in the
costs of raw materials that led to a rise in prices of goods produced in Libya and limitations on
the importation of goods and some goods were stopped completely as companies faced
restrictions to get foreign exchange that they needed to import these goods.63 Additionally,
business visits to Libya were constrained and Libya’s market share of exports also declined as a
result of the sanctions. For example, Porter and Yergin noted that Information Communication
Technological infrastructure in Libya was poor as the government was restricted on supplies of
technology and expertise during the period of sanctions.64 Also, during the 1990s Libyan
companies found it difficult to import many kinds of facilities, equipment or spare parts
particularly from western countries that could assist Libyan development programmes.65 The
international sanctions against Libya were suspended in 1999 following the handover of the two
suspected Libyan citizens by Libyan authorities to Holland to be tried in a special court. These
sanctions were officially lifted by the UN in August 2003, after the Libyan government reached a
settlement with the families of the Lockerbie victims. In 2004, the American embargo lifted after
the Libyan government declared it would abandon its Weapons of Mass Destruction
programmes. This resulted in Libya being again reintegrated into the international
community.666768On 17th February 2011, Libyan people across the country rose against Gaddafi’s
rule of Libya. In the absence of an organised political opposition, Libyan people protested and
encountered the security forces leading to many deaths.69Consequentially, an armed conflict
started between forces loyal to Gaddafi and opposition forces seeking to oust him. The National
63Almehdi A Agnaia, 'Management training and development within its environment: the case of Libyan industrial
companies' (1997) 21(3) Journal of European Industrial Training 117
64Porter and Yergin (2006), above n
65Agnaia, above n
66Porter and Yergin, above n
67Zoubir and Rózsa, above n
68Ahmida, above n
69Zoubir and Rózsa, above n

Transitional Council was later set up by leaders of civil society and defectors from Gaddafi
government to lead the rebellion and be the interface with various powers that supported the
overthrow of Gaddafi.7071 Following these events, the Security Council adopted resolution 1973
on 17th March 2011 which led to international intervention, led by NATO, to end all attacks
against civilians, protection of civilians, a no-flyzone, and enforcement of the arms embargo, a
ban on flights and an asset freeze on Gaddafi regime. Therefore, the international community
refused to recognise the Gaddafi government as the legitimate representative of the Libyan
people and, gradually, the NTC formed an Executive Committee as an interim governing body
and it was bilaterally recognised by other countries as the legitimate ruling authority in Libya. In
October 2011, Gaddafi’s rule of Libya ended after his death, and the NTC became the sole
governing body of Libya. In July 2012 and for the first time in five decades, the Libyan people
voted for electing their members of the General National Congress (GNC) as the constitutional
assembly which was delegated to draft a constitution for Libya within an 18 month timeframe.
After this, the GNC formed a transitional government to be responsible for implementing
national policies. The GNC is also in the process of redrafting (in 2014) the majority of all state
legislation, as well as policy formation practices abolishing those inherited from Gaddafi’s time.
The main motive or the objective of this research study is to focus upon the widespread and
firstly growing corruption in the economic as well as trading purposes in mercantile aspects of
the developing countries throughout the world. Though, the research mainly focuses upon the
corruption in petroleum resource industry in Libyan context. The fiscal policy or the annual GDP
growth rate of Libya generally depends on the petroleum industry to a large extend. But recent
70Ibid
71Ahmida, above n

reports emphasis over the fact that, corruption in industrial aspects provide detrimental impact on
the economic background of the nation.
72
According to the current reports, the oil reservoir or petroleum resources of Libya are now
holding the tenth position throughout the global business arena. The country produces 1.65
million barrels oil per day. Majority of the crude oil is generally exported to the European market
from the Islamic countries and among that, almost 11% or around 403 million barrels oil is
exported by the Libya only.
72 Opec.org. (2017). OPEC : Libya. [online] Available at: http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/166.htm
[Accessed 18 Sep. 2017]

After the civil war in 2011, the country has witnessed detrimental downfall in political as well as
economical perspective which in turns sheds light on the “accountability vacuum” condition
between the government and the populace of Libya. This in turns provides detrimental impact on
the petroleum oil resources. On the other ward, it can be said that, in spite of relatively higher
level of the human development, a huge number of the population in Libya do not get any kind
of economic or social benefits from the “oil-driven economy”. Financial estimation reveals that
almost 30 to 40 percent of the total population lives below poverty level and above that, more
than 45 percent population does not get minimum essentials so that they can lead a normal
livelihood. Reports reveal that, before civil war, Libya, one of the important members among the
petroleum producing countries, had generated more than 1 million crude oil per year, which
decreased drastically after civil war, 2011 and now the country produces 450,000 billion crude
oils. This can shed light upon the corruption, in petroleum oil resources for prolonged period of
time.
Rule of Law
As the corruption in Libya provide detrimental effect in both political as well as the economical
perspective, so proper rule and legislation can be best possible way for the government to
overcome this massacre. Proper and strict legislation can provide effective framework to the
administrative process by which the unfavorable impact of corruption in society can be
minimized.
Libyan Commercial Law

Libyan Commercial law was enacted in 195373, and included regulations concerning business
activities performed by any person, whatever his or her legal status. It covered the rules executed
on traders (first Article 1/P) (Libya State 1970), which bound every trader to abide by regular
daily bookkeeping, inventory and budget at a minimum level (Article 58) (Libya State 1970),
and to keep special files for correspondence and dialogues relevant to trade affairs (Article 59)
(Libya State 1970). The most formal measures and objective conditions, which guarantee the
consistency of these books, are outlined below.
Every page of the obligatory books must be numbered and stamped by the court of first
instance’s stamp. In addition it is necessary for the registrar to write attestation on the first page
of each book, indicating the number of pages and to confirm the official title with the signature
and date on this attestation. Books and files must not have spaces, writing in their margins or any
erasures or writing between lines (Article 60) (Libya State 1970). The law binds every trader to
keep these books and files for a period of not less than five years (Article 64) (Libya State 1970).
It also binds the board of directors to set up the fiscal year Balance Sheet for joint-stock
companies, to calculate profit and loss, and to attach a report to the Balance Sheet indicating the
progress of the company’s activity (Article 272) (Libya State 1970). The Balance Sheet contents
of assets and deductions have to be fixed in the Balance Sheet with their overall value (Article
273) (Libya State 1970), and must be confirmed by the General Assembly (Article 516) (Libya
State 1970). The board of directors must submit a copy of the Balance Sheet and the calculation
of profit and costs as an attachment with their report, the control committee’s report and the
General Assembly confirmation minute to the trade register bureau within 30 days of
confirmation (Article 583) (Libya State 1970).
73Younis Hassan El-Sharif, 'The Influence of Legal Environment Upon Accounting in Libya' (1981) 8(2) Dirasat in
Economics and Business 36

Libyan commercial law clarified many rules about estimating the assets, establishing the legal
reserve, increasing and decreasing the invested capital and distributing profit. Among the
important rules regarding the valuation of assets are the following:
•fixed assets are valued on the basis of original cost;
•inventory should be valued at the “lower of cost or market”;
•trademarks shall not be valued higher than their cost or purchase price, and the values of these
assets are to be amortized each financial year in accordance with their useful life;
•debts should be valued at their estimated realizable value;
•organization and development costs may be capitalized with the consent of the board of
directors, in which case the capitalized values should be amortized over a period not exceeding
five years; and
•goodwill cannot be recorded unless it is purchased, and once recorded, it should be amortized in
subsequent years by a suitable amount estimated by the directors and the board of auditors
(Articles: 574, 575 and 576) (Libya State 1970).
The legal reserve is established by deducting no less than 5% of the net annual profits until the
value of this reserve reaches 20% of the company’s capital, and regarded as part of seized
profits, which are classified as standing capital (Article 557). The increase in the company’s
capital is achieved by issuing new Shares with a price more than their nominal value. This is
done before finalizing the establishment of the legal reserve, or by transferring the reserve
surplus to the company’s capital by issuing free new shares or by increasing the nominal value of
floating shares (Articles: 578 and 590) (Libya State 1970). The reserve surplus may be decreased

when it exceeds the enterprise’s needs, or in the event of losses of more than a third of the
capital, by exempting the participants from paying the remaining instalments or returning the
capital instalment to the State in conformity with current legislation (Articles: 578 and 590)
(Libya State 1970).
The commercial law also stipulated the necessity to appoint auditors (Article 550) (Libya State
1970), so as to monitor the company’s administration and ensure sound progress of the
company’s activities in accordance with the law. Article 553 of commercial law details the duties
of the auditing board (Article 553) (Libya State 1970). The law binds the auditor to submit a
report to the general assembly on the outcomes of the fiscal year activities indicating his view
regarding the progress of the company’s work in addition to the authenticity and the
confirmation of its budget and accounts (Article 580) (Libya State 1970). The law does not
specify what this report should include, nor does it deal with the formality that should be
included in this report.
The Financial System Law
The main objective of the research is to focus upon the unfavorable impact of the corruption in
petroleum oil resources, it can be interpreted that, this massacre not only impact upon the
societal stability but it also create such a consequence that provide negative effect on the
financial framework of the nation. This financial instability in society can minimize only by
adopting and/or by implementing proper and effective financial legislation in overall
administrative policy of the nation. As the structure of the economy of Libya is “oil-driven”, so

reformed financial act or regulative policies can be suitable for minimizing the negative impact
of corruption in petroleum oil resources.
The Act concerning the emergence of The Financial System Law (FL) (Libya State 1967) first
came into operation in 1967. According to Article 1 of the FL, this law allows the Secretary of
Treasury to control the State Budget and plan for future expenditure. In order to do this, the
Secretary of Treasury selects a Finance Controller for every institution, and organization. The
role of this controller is to prepare a report of the policies in the institutions and give it to the
Secretary of Treasury. A copy of their report is sent to the related secretariat, organisation and
institution. Kilani74 stated that this is based on the principle that “the Treasury should be
wherever the public money is”. Consequently, the Secretary of Treasury has been involved in all
publicly held organizations. Generally, all the administration processes of the budgets are the
same. Based on Article 6, every budget has two parts: revenue and expenditure (Libya State
1967). The expenditure itself has three divisions: wages, general expenses and new projects.
Furthermore, Article 23 of the FSL (Libya State 1967) requires the Secretary of Treasury to
prepare an annual report for the Public Control Office, including detailed information of the
State's budgets and expenses. It also calls its improvement, debt or any emergency accounts as
well as trust.
Income Tax Law
74Kilani Abdulkerim Kilani, 'The Current and The Future of Financial Performance Reports in Libya' (1998) 9(1/2)
Journal of Economic Research, National Academy of Scientific Research: The economic Research Centre, Benghazi
203,p. 213.

The income tax law that was applied in Libya during the period from 1923 to 1968, was the
Italian income tax law.75 However, following the undertaking of some necessary amendments to
suit local circumstances, a new income tax law was issued for the first time in Libya in 1968.76 In
1973, this law was replaced by Income Tax Law No. 64 (Libya State 1973), which has been used
by many companies for the purpose of setting up external financial reports.
Libyan income tax law does not differentiate between income tax from ordinary activities and
income tax from unusual activities,77 whether this income is a product of an activity sale or any
of the activity’s material or non-material assets (Article 65).
Income Tax Law No. 64/1973 (Libya State 1973) has been amended as well as Stamp Tax Law
in accordance with the principal popular congresses’ resolution convened during the period from
26/12/2002 to 2/1/2003. In March 2004, Income Tax Law No 64 was replaced by Income Tax
Law No 11, and there has been a significant change in the new law. It now offers tax allowances,
especially for those with high incomes, and it has deleted the public tax category of income and
increased the value of each category in the progressive taxes on the activities (Libya State
2004a). This encourages the private sector to make more profit and thus contribute to Libyan
development plans.
75Younis Hassan El-Sharif, above n
76Central Bank of Libya, 'Economic Bulletin' (1977), p. 154.
77Bubaker F Shareia and Fakher Buferna, 'The Effect of Changing in Tax legislation upon Government Revenues
and Private Sector Activities Taxation System in Libya: Evaluation & Improvement Conference Tripoli' (Paper
presented at the Libya University of Garyounis, 2001)

Cultural and religious context
Tribal loyalties play an important role in Libyan social relations, economics and politics.
However, the various legacies of the colonial period, independence, the development of the oil
industry and the economic crises of the 1980s and 1990s did much to alter tribal and social
structure. Indeed, traditional values have changed under the impact of economic changes. Social
life in Libya centers traditionally on the individual's family and tribal loyalty, which override
other obligations in the community. Loyalty to family, clan, and tribe and the emphasis on
regionalism and sectarianism occasionally outweigh loyalty to a profession and the law.78 Libya
is no different from many other developing countries in having a number of traditions and
customs which emphasize the collective rights and obligations of families and tribes. Tribal and
family collectivity is institutionalized in peoples' work-related practices and social relationships.
Thus, the Libyan culture is characterized by the prevailing attitude of favoritism in appointments
to government jobs, which sees that they were and frequently are made on the basis of personal
friendship or family connections rather than merit.79
Libya is one of a number of Arabic countries included in Hofstadter’s80 1997 cultural study,
along with Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Although
Arab countries have many characteristics in common, they differ from each other in many
respects. Hofstede81showed that, for instance, the Saudis are more collectivist than some other
Arabs such as the Lebanese or Egyptians. Baydoun and Willett82 demonstrated that the value the
Lebanese place on power distance is probably much closer to the French value. Power distance
78Almehdi A. Agnaia, 'Management training and development within its environment: the case of Libyan industrial
companies' (1997) 21(3) Journal of European Industrial Training 117
79Ibid
80Geert Hofstede, 'Cultures and organizations' (1997) Who published this, where is it available?
81Ibid
82Nabil Baydoun and Roger Willett, 'Cultural relevance of western accounting systems to developing countries'
(1995) 31(1) Abacus 67

refers to the unequal distribution or the flow of power from the hierarchical level to the
subordinate level of the society through which only higher income group can experience benefits
from both economical as well as societal perspective and the lower income groups do not get
anything for living a life. The recent reports reveal that, after civil war in Libya in 2011, 30 to 40
percent of the total population lives under below poverty level and almost 45 percent of the
population are involved in oil industry but unfortunately does not get any economic benefits
from this “oil-driven economy” of the country. Hofstede83and Baydoun and Willett84compare
culture value scores between Arab countries, and other nations. Arab countries scored high levels
of power distance with a score of 80 compared with low levels of power distance in Great Britain
and the US, 35 and 40 respectively. Superiors and subordinates in large power distance societies
consider each other unequal. Hierarchical systems exist and subordinates are expected to be told
what, when and how to carry out their tasks. Centralization is expected to characterize high
power distance societies. Arab countries scored 68 for uncertainty avoidance. This score is
relatively high compared to 35 and 46 in Great Britain and the US respectively. Hofstede85
argued that strong uncertainty avoidance societies, which include Arab countries, tend to be
collectivists. Arab countries scored 38 on individualism which is considered low compared to
Great Britain and the US with a score of 89 and 91 respectively. This indicates that Arab
countries are more collectivist societies than many other countries. Islam may be one of the
reasons for the collectivist nature of these societies. In this context, the Prophet Mohammed says
that "believers [Muslims] in their mutual love, sympathy and co-operation, are like the
[interacting] parts of the human body: when one part complains, the other parts call each other to
hasten to its rescue, each sharing its pain and sleeplessness".
83Geert Hofstede, above n
84Nabil Baydoun and Roger Willett, above n
85Geert Hofstede, above n

The variety and the influence of cultural dimensions, economic, political and historical variables
on the reform of public sector have led to different reforms in different countries. Chiefly, social
aspects influence the public administration through the domination of values, customs and
traditions, which may hinder progress and the success of the administration in accomplishing its
objectives. Among the social themes that noticeably influence public reform in Libya is tribalism
and consequent nepotism. In accordance with custom and traditions, participation in the
professions in the public sector is influenced by nepotism, by the influence of relations and close
friends because of tribal affiliation and not through professional performance. This situation has
been firmly established with the emergence of the idea of open-nomination for assuming public
professions. This method can exploit the sustainable societal framework and also can impact
upon the livelihoods of the large population throughout the Libya. This has inflicted serious
damage on the public interest. It is worth mentioning here in this context, that tribalism is
implanted even in the minds of the qualified and the educated people not only in Libya but it is
also implanted among the people of the Islamic countries throughout the globe. . Rather than
turning themselves away from this tradition and practice they find themselves willingly or
unwillingly steered by the tribe. They yield to its instructions regarding management and
authority, because if they turn away from their tribe, they will be deprived of assuming
membership of the professions in spite of their qualifications and performance. As a result, those
administering public authorities support their own interests and the interests of the party over
public and national interest. This is reflected in explicit egoism and demoralization of employees
in the developing country to the stage where workers look at their profession as a mere source of
subsistence, endeavoring to hold on to it until completion of legal tenure and retirement on a
pension. During this period, employees strive to outdo one another and colleagues evade the

burdens of work and deny responsibility. In actual fact, one’s profession is not looked on as a
means of offering service to the country and people or a place in which to show talent and
capability to increase the level of performance and production in the community. Administrative
aspects are also affected by the social aspect, which is based on nepotism, courtesy and tribal
affiliation. Appropriate rules to evaluate performance and assess employees’ efficiency are
absent. The current system makes no comparison between the diligent and the lazy employee and
removes the creative spirit of active employees, who in the shadow of these systems endure the
mistreatment and hatred of their lazy colleagues and bosses alike. If they earnestly get on with
their work they are accused of being covetous to take control of higher administrative
professions and fulfil their own personal interests. On the other hand, they may be questioned
and held liable for mistakes committed by lazy employees and find an acceptance by those lazy
and negligent employees in performing their assigned duties at work. These negative impacts
associated with being an employee, are compounded by other negative impacts, where the citizen
who receives the service is answerable for it. It represents a reflection of social concepts on the
employees character in accepting the services, as the employees come to the department totally
convinced that he will not leave it unless he accomplishes all matters he wishes to undertake on
the foundations of family relationship and friendship, whether that is in accordance with the rules
and regulations or not. The reality cannot accept fallacy. Today we cannot refer to any
administration unless we have a close relative or a friend in it. This subject, social relationships,
though indisputable even in western societies, is the existence of human relations within the
administration. In western countries, if an employee can help obtain a service quickly for one of
His or her friends, it is more difficult to offer this service or help obtain it ahead of others, unless
someone entrusted with a prominent post authorizes him to acquire such a service. In the west,

employees cannot break the law or give priority as happens in similar situations in developing
countries. This is what prompted the necessity to ask how any employee can undertake any work
or business and accomplish it without external influence. The influence of tribalism and
nepotism is a matter which undoubtedly needs to be rectified by raising the awareness level of
every citizen and employee. Educational institutions may contribute to this promotion of
awareness by educating their students and making them realize that the only criterion that should
regulate their relationship to others, is as a citizen of their country and not membership of their
tribe.
Apart from this, set up an ICAC or the independent commission against the corruption
committee can be considered as an important and effective anti-corruption agenda in Libyan
context, which is widely used in south Wales and throughout the Australia. But, according to
social religious perspective, but the countries have some basic differences. Among those
differences, the religion or the religious believe can be accepted as one of the important or major
differences between Australia and Libya. Libya is an Islamic countries and the Libyan regulation
is based on Islamic approach which is also known as Sharia Law. So, the anti-corruption agenda
or reform act to control the corruption in Libyan public sector must be consistent and relevant
with the Islamic approach.
Apart from the religion perspective, Libyan governmental framework is unitary in nature and it
is based on single central bureaucracy; whereas Australia is a federal country and the social
administration is generally based on the three tire system: national, state and the local. Moreover
the judiciary system and the media in Libya is very weal compared to the Australia. Lack of
transparency, excessive involvement of the political authorities in legal and judiciary system of

the society of Libya can restrict the implementation of reform or regulatory act, by which
government can keep accountability and control over the corruption.
Judicial Independence
According to Melton, James, and Tom Ginsburg the independence of the legal framework of a
country collectively, institutionally and individually is necessary for ensuring impartiality in
decision making86. The independence of the judiciary have been ensured for centuries in various
ways. These ways include keeping the judges separate from the legislature and executive and not
involving them in political debates. The judges cannot be removed from their position unless a
resolution has been passed by the parliament. Entire immunity is provided to the judges from the
legal risk of being sued for making an alleged wrong decision while they act as judges. For the
purpose of ensuring that the decision made by the judges is obeyed by the public it has to be
ensured that they indulge in impartial decision making. For the purpose of making impartial
decision the judiciary has to be kept independent. In the same way for the purpose of making the
judiciary independent the judiciary has to be kept free from pressure, influence and interference.
However this is not the case in Libya. A dual judicial system had been developed during the
reign of the Ottoman Empire for the purpose of distinguishing between secular and religious
legal matters. However the system was no longer necessary which the primacy of the Islamic law
had been accepted. There are significant challenges faced by the judiciary of Libya which pose
hurdles to the judges to provide strict enforcement of law against corruptions. The 2011 uprising
in Libya was fuelled by the desire of the society to be based on the rule of law and the principles
of justice. The constitutional declaration of 2011 apparently assured the people of the country
86 Melton, James, and Tom Ginsburg. "Does de jure judicial independence really matter? A reevaluation of
explanations for judicial independence." Journal of Law and Courts 2.2 (2014): 187-217.

that the rule of law would be established87. However significant challenges are being faced by the
Libyan judicial system. The main reasons for this is the significant deterioration of security and
political conditions since 2014. Currently the judicial system barely functions and is subjected to
significant difficulties from increasing unclear legal and judicial framework and armed actors.
The present government crisis engendered the uncertainty relating to the framework. The
Australian anti-corruption polices and been successfully implemented and currently used because
the country has an independent judiciary and a very competent and strong framework. These
laws cannot be implemented in Libya because of its weak judicial system. Thus before thinking
about any law to combat corruption in the oil and gas industry the primary requirement is to
ensure the independence of the judiciary from political interference. Only when the diary would
be able to impose the law in a proper manner the problem of corruption in the sector would be
solved.
Independent media
Law provides a Universal human right to the citizen in form of freedom of expression. This right
is used by journalist in their day to day work as they exercise their right towards notifying the
public. One of the fundamental pillars of a democratic society is a free press. The role of media
is to seek out and circulate information ideas news opinion and comments and make those who
are in authority accountable. Media act as a platform for making multiplicity of voices heard to
those were in authority. It acts as a public watch dog at the regional local and national level
doing the job of a Guardian and activist as well as an entertainer and educator. According to
Leslie the better the media of a country the less population the country has to live with88.
87 Linzer, Drew A., and Jeffrey K. Staton. "A global measure of judicial independence, 1948–2012." Journal of Law
and Courts 3.2 (2015): 223-256.
88 Leslie, Michael. Media and democracy in Africa. Routledge, 2017.

Research which have been conducted in relation to political corruption recommends that the
basic contributor with respect to good governance is a Press structure which is free and
independent and is able to invigorate lively as well as respectful political disclosure along with
making the people participate in elections. The more the freedom provided to the press the less is
the corruption in a country. Another research has shown that where there is high percentage of
newspaper consumption the corruption in such country is low89. Just like the judiciary the
independence of media also have to go through significant challenges in Libya.
After the end of the Gaddafi period there was an assumption that the rule of law would be
established and media would be able to play an enhanced role in the society. People in Libya
started to take increased interest in newspapers as well as digital media. However there is
significant doubt over how independent and free the media is in Libya as it has to operate under
tremendous pressure. There is no second thought about the fact that media has great power. It has
powers so great which can easily influence the entire nation for and against the government.
However for the exercise of such power the media has to be made free from interference by
political parties. On the other hand if media is owned by the members of the political party they
then it cannot be regarded as free no matter how much freedom the government apparently
provides to media. A strong and independent media structure can easily tackle and significantly
reduced the evil of corruption from society. If there is a fear of media among those who indulge
in illegal activities they would definitely think twice before doing any act as they would be
having the fear of getting exposed to the public. In oil and gas industry where the corruption is
high and in a country like Libya where the primary source of income comes from this industry
media has a very significant role to play. Even after the end of the Gaddafi government there has
89 Camaj, Lindita. "The media’s role in fighting corruption: Media effects on governmental accountability." The
International Journal of Press/Politics 18.1 (2013): 21-42.

not been much changes in relation to the Framework in which media personals operate. Through
the process of periodic exposure the media can help to create public opinion against corruption.
It also helps in sustaining newly created momentum against malpractices. It provides the public a
platform through which they can share the grievances with the other and can highlight the issue.
Several countries have various measures in relation to the freedom of press such as Sting
operations, holding public debates, introduction of Right to Information, investigative journalism
and opinion polls. However such Liberty is a very restricted to the media personals in Libya.
These features restrict the media in Libya to fight corruption effectively. In order to ensure that
corruption is eradicated from the Oil and Gas sector in the country the first and foremost
requirement is establishment of a free and strong media structure which can report any
corruption and make those who are responsible accountable to the public.
Another factor which causes significant shortcomings to the independence of media in Libya is
the corruption in media itself90. As the Oil and Gas sector involve huge amount of capital those
who are involved in malpractices bring along with them media persons by offering them gifts
and drives so that there is legal activities can be hidden. These practices have to be eradicated
from the media industry in Libya so that an appropriate and just media Framework is formed.
Thus the media in Libya has to be made independent along with the judiciary if the government
is interested if fighting corruption. This can be done by enhancing the transparency in media
industry and public funding so that the sector does not depend upon government sources.
Conclusion
90 Hardy, Jonathan. Critical political economy of the media: An introduction. Routledge, 2014.

Therefore from the above discussion it can be concluded that policies in relation to managing oil
and gas industry corruption in Libya require significant changes. These changes cannot be
directly copied from other jurisdictions such as New South Wales or United Kingdom. This is
because the legal as well as constitutional framework of such jurisdiction is totally different from
that of Libya. The primary source of income for Libya comes from the oil and gas industry. The
country holds 10th position in the Global Business Arena in relation to Oil and petroleum
Reserves. The best possible way to address the issue of corruption in Libya is through the
implementation of the rule of law. As the corruption in Libya provide detrimental effect in both
political as well as the economical perspective, so proper rule and legislation can be best possible
way for the government to overcome this massacre. Proper and strict legislation can provide
effective framework to the administrative process by which the unfavorable impact of corruption
in society can be minimized. Legal modifications are required in areas such as commercial law
and income tax law. These area of law are directly related to matters concerning money and thus
they can help to tackle the problem. Strengthening taxation law would ensure that the individuals
have to provide strict accounting compliance which would help identify any black money
involved. There are various examples of anti-corruption policies which have been used by other
jurisdictions. On the other hand the judicial system of Libya is still not strong and free from
government interference. These laws cannot be implemented in Libya because of its weak
judicial system. Thus before thinking about any law to combat corruption in the oil and gas
industry the primary requirement is to ensure the independence of the judiciary from political
interference. Only when the diary would be able to impose the law in a proper manner the
problem of corruption in the sector would be solved. In addition to the judiciary the media also
as discussed above has a significant role to pay in relation to corruption in the oil and gas sector.

Independent and free media can be used as a primary tool to tackle the problem of solution.
However even though increased and enhanced rights have been provided to the media during the
post Gaddafi period such rights are not enough to tackle the increasing problem of corruption.
Therefore the independence of media also needs to be established if the government intends to
fight corruption in the oil and gas industry.

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