Court dismisses lawsuit against Minister of Energy over electricity prices
On Thursday, May 4, the Tenth Civil Court of First Instance in the Damascus Court of Justice rejected the lawsuit filed by lawyer Bassel Saeed Mane and others, against the Minister of Energy, Mohammed Al-Bashir, in his personal and professional capacity, in form, due to the lack of jurisdiction of the state court to hear the case.
The subject of the lawsuit filed by lawyer Bassel Saeed Mana, which was dismissed, relates to "the nullification and amendment of the terms of the acquiescence contract and the suspension of the implementation of Resolution No. 687 on October 30, 2025, in which electricity prices were raised to a level that the citizen cannot afford, despite the living conditions of millions of citizens such as displacement, unemployment and living in rented houses with obscene rents."
Article 147 of the Syrian Code of Procedure No. 1 of 2016 stipulates that "the court's lack of jurisdiction due to lack of jurisdiction or due to the type or value of the case shall be ruled by the court on its own initiative, and may be pleaded in any case in which the case is based."
A Public Opinion Issue
In a post on his Facebook page, Mana said: "What matters to me today is not the lawsuit itself, but the case that prompted me to file it from the beginning, and it is a case that affects millions of Syrians who are suffering from the significant and unjustified rise in electricity prices, and it is an issue that has turned into a real popular demand on which many pinned great hopes."
He pointed out that this lawsuit is a public opinion issue of concern to most of the Syrian people, stressing at the same time the independence of the judiciary in Syria, and his belief that the decision to dismiss the lawsuit in form was not the result of any pressure or directive, but was fully committed by the civil judiciary.
He indicated that he submitted memoranda supporting the jurisdiction of the civil judiciary to consider the case against the Minister of Energy, reinforced by the jurisprudence issued by the relevant Court of Cassation, pointing out that he respects the circular of the Central Bar Association in Syria not to publish judicial memoranda and documents on social media, otherwise these memoranda would have been published.
Notification of the Minister of Energy in person
"Syrian News" learned that the notices that were postponed due to their inability to consider the case were addressed to: the Syrian Minister of Energy, Mohammed Al-Bashir, and the director of the Damascus Countryside Electricity Company, to which a notification was later added to the director of the Syrian Electricity Company (SEC), resulting from the merger of the Electricity Generation Corporation and the General Organization for Electricity Transmission and Distribution in Syria into one entity.
Electricity prices increased 70 times
On October 30, 2025, the Ministry of Energy issued Decision No. 687 to raise and amend the tariff of the sale of kilowatt-hours of electricity in Syria to various subscribers and sectors, with its official implementation on November 1, 2025.
The abolition of the old multiple scale of segments and the consolidation of consumption into just two household segments has led to the total bills paid by citizens rising as a final value by 600% to 7,000% (about 70 times) depending on the actual volume of household consumption during the two-month cycle
The Ministry added that the decision comes within the framework of the electricity sector reform project, achieving sustainability and improving service, stressing that the decision contributes to raising the capacity and continuity of the electricity system within a comprehensive national reform plan aimed at securing electricity in a stable and fair manner, developing infrastructure, improving distribution efficiency and attracting investment in the energy sector.