Syrian government, SDF fail to agree on judiciary unification in Hasakah
Shafaq News- Hasakah
The Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) failed to reach an agreement on the judiciary file in Hasakah province, following a visit by a delegation from the Syrian Ministry of Justice over the past two days to Hasakah and Qamishli to take over the province’s courts.
Shafaq News correspondent cited a judge within the Autonomous Administration who said the Syrian government proposed handing over the judicial complex in Qamishli and Hasakah to staff and judges from the era of former President Bashar al-Assad, with the integration of Autonomous Administration judges and employees to be discussed at a later stage.
“This proposal led to the collapse of the talks,” he stressed, arguing that any integration process should include a clear mechanism for incorporating judiciary personnel into the Syrian Ministry of Justice without exclusion of judges and lawyers who previously refused to work within Assad-era institutions.
In contrast, Ahmed Al-Hilali, spokesperson for the presidential team tasked with implementing the January 29 agreement with the SDF, told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) that the delegation went to Qamishli following the handover of the judicial palace in Hasakah. “The team was surprised that those present in the courthouse refused to hand over the building and prevented judges from returning to work without justification,” he added, describing the move as an escalation that increases the suffering of residents.
Al-Hilali said that despite attempts by some legal figures within the SDF to resolve obstacles, these efforts did not lead to results, as other parties insisted on postponing the issue indefinitely, making it difficult to set a clear timetable at this stage. He affirmed that the Ministry of Justice is “a sovereign institution and cannot operate outside a unified framework across Syrian territory,” emphasizing that the principle of “one law, one army, one flag, and one state” forms the basis of the agreement.
“There is no alternative to the January agreement, which stipulates the handover of state facilities to the government and the integration of SDF institutions into Syrian state structures,” he concluded.
Earlier, a government delegation headed by Deputy Public Prosecutor Hassan Al-Turba arrived in Hasakah and met with Governor Nour al-Din Ahmed, in the presence of the presidential team, to discuss restarting the judicial palace and activating judicial institutions in the region.
The delegation also took control of Ghweiran prison in Hasakah and announced measures to regulate its operations and link it to the judicial system, as part of broader efforts to reactivate legal institutions in the province, according to the Hasakah Media Directorate.
In January, the Syrian government and the SDF reached a comprehensive ceasefire agreement that includes the gradual integration of military structures between the two sides. The deal also provides for integrating Autonomous Administration institutions into state structures, retaining civil employees, settling civil and educational rights for the Kurdish community, and facilitating the return of displaced residents to their hometowns.
