[JURIST] The Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) [official website; JURIST news archive] published a draft law Monday establishing guidelines for the election of the assembly that will create Libya’s new constitution. The law would ban [AP report] any former members of the regime of deceased former dictator Muammar Gaddafi [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive] as well as those educated in his political manifesto, the Green Book [text, PDF]. This is the first step taken by the NTC in establishing a new democratic government after the fall of the 42-year dictator. The interim government faces several challenges including addressing and reconciling [Mail & Guardian report] with the significant portion of Libyans involved in Gaddafi’s regime and those who fought in regional militias and revolutionary groups.

The NTC has been gaining recognition among other countries, as well as the World Bank [JURIST report]. In September the NTC vowed to investigate allegations of human rights after Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] published a report [JURIST report] alleging that both sides of the Libya conflict [JURIST backgrounder] are responsible for human rights abuses and warning the NTC to act quickly to investigate these allegations. Also that month the NTC assured world leaders that Libya will be a society of tolerance and respect [JURIST report] for the rule of law. During a meeting [BBC report] in Paris chaired by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, NTC leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil [BBC profiles] vowed to administer elections and draft a new constitution for Libya within 18 months. However, allegations of war crimes and human rights violations have been widespread during the Libya conflict.