The Tenth Civil Court of First Instance at Damascus Courthouse ruled Thursday, June 4, to dismiss the lawsuit filed by lawyer Basel Saeed Manee and others against Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir, in both his personal and official capacities, on procedural grounds, citing the court’s lack of jurisdiction to hear the case.

The dismissed lawsuit filed by lawyer Basel Saeed Manee concerned “annulling and amending the terms of a contract of adhesion and suspending the implementation of Decision No. 687, issued on 30 October 2025, under which electricity prices were raised to a level citizens cannot afford, despite the living conditions of millions of citizens, including displacement, unemployment, and residence in rented homes with exorbitant rents.”

Article 147 of Syrian Civil Procedure Law No. 1 of 2016 states that “the court’s lack of jurisdiction, whether because it has no jurisdiction, or because of the type or value of the case, shall be ruled on by the court on its own initiative, and may be invoked at any stage of the case.”

Case Dismissed After Several Delays Over Notifications

Lawyer Basel Manee told Enab Baladi that before the court dismissed the lawsuit on procedural grounds over lack of jurisdiction, he had obtained a decision from the same court shortening the intervals between hearings to one week, with one hearing held per week. The case had been postponed because of notification requirements, and the state attorney, the party representing the defendant, was being notified.

Manee expressed his absolute respect for the court’s decision and his full commitment to it, even if he was not convinced by its legal reasoning. He stressed the need to “respect institutions and the judiciary, no matter how serious the disputes with them are.”

He also said he had submitted legal memoranda and judicial precedents supporting the jurisdiction of the civil judiciary, the Tenth Civil Court of First Instance, to consider the case.

Regarding the notifications that led to delays because they could not be completed, the same lawyer said they were addressed to:

• Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad al-Bashir.
• The director of the Rural Damascus Electricity Company.

• A notification was later added for the director of the Syrian Electricity Company (SEC), which was formed from the merger of the Electricity Generation Establishment and the General Establishment for Electricity Transmission and Distribution in Syria into one entity.

A Public Opinion Case

In a post on his Facebook page, lawyer Manee said, “What matters to me today is not the lawsuit itself, but the issue that prompted me to file it in the first place, an issue affecting millions of Syrians who suffer from the major and unjustified rise in electricity prices. It is an issue that has turned into a real popular demand on which many people had placed great hopes.”

He noted that the lawsuit is a public opinion case concerning most Syrians, while also stressing the independence of the judiciary in Syria and his belief that the decision to dismiss the case on procedural grounds was not the result of any pressure or directive, but was made by the civil judiciary of its own free will.

He said he had submitted memoranda supporting the civil judiciary’s jurisdiction to consider the lawsuit against the energy minister, backed by relevant judicial precedents issued by the Court of Cassation. He added that he respects the circular issued by the Central Bar Association in Syria banning lawyers from publishing judicial memoranda and documents on social media, otherwise he would have published those memoranda.

Judges Told Lawyer Case Falls Under Civil Judiciary

Lawyer Manee, who is registered with the Damascus branch of the Bar Association, told Enab Baladi in April that he had previously presented the lawsuit to the administrative judiciary, which informed him it would dismiss the case on procedural grounds for lack of jurisdiction if it was filed before it, because the energy minister’s decision to raise electricity prices is a regulatory decision, not an administrative one. Therefore, the competent body to consider it is the Civil Court of First Instance.

Manee denied at the time that he had faced any pressure from any party to withdraw the case, from the day he filed the lawsuit up to that point. He called on anyone harmed by high electricity bills, and who holds a bill exclusively in their personal name, to join the lawsuit, saying he was prepared to represent any person free of charge, and noting that each power of attorney can include five clients.

The Syrian lawyer said he attached to the case file a set of documents, including the subscription contract signed between him and the electricity company, and a set of paid bills showing the very large differences in electricity tariffs under the bracket system, from the time they were only a few Syrian pounds up to the current tariff. He said he completed all documents and paid the required fees before he was able to register the lawsuit petition.

Details of the Electricity Price Hike

The Syrian Ministry of Energy issued in October 2025 the details of the decision to raise electricity prices according to four brackets, which it said “take into account social groups and different consumption levels.”

The distribution, according to what the ministry published on Facebook, was as follows:

• The first bracket, at 600 Syrian pounds, about $0.052, per kilowatt-hour, applies to consumption of up to 300 kilowatt-hours over a two month cycle, with government support covering 60% of the cost price.

• The second bracket, at 1,400 pounds, about $0.123, per kilowatt-hour, includes middle and high income earners and small projects that consume more than 300 kilowatt-hours over a two month cycle.

• The third bracket, at 1,700 pounds, about $0.149, per kilowatt-hour, includes those exempt from rationing, such as government institutions, companies, and factories that need electricity around the clock.

• The fourth bracket, at 1,800 pounds, about $0.158, per kilowatt-hour, includes plants, factories, and high consumption facilities, such as smelting factories and others.

The ministry added that the decision comes as part of a project to reform the electricity sector, achieve sustainability, and improve service.

It said the decision contributes to raising the capacity and continuity of the electricity system within a comprehensive national reform plan aimed at securing stable and fair electricity, developing infrastructure, improving distribution efficiency, and attracting investment in the energy sector.

Annual Losses of $1 Billion

Two government sources previously told Enab Baladi that keeping electricity prices as they are causes the government losses of about $1 billion annually, because electricity supply hours have increased since the fall of the regime from about two hours to eight hours a day. This leads to higher costs for producing electricity and importing the gas and fuel oil needed to operate power plants.

One kilowatt-hour of electricity costs $0.14, equivalent to 1,600 Syrian pounds, and is currently sold to citizens for only 10 Syrian pounds, about $0.0009, which causes major losses in the electricity sector.

The Syrian government does not intend to completely remove electricity subsidies, but will restructure them in a way that improves electricity service at prices closer to the actual cost.

The plan aims to gradually increase electricity supply hours. By mid 2026, supply will reach 14 hours, according to the two government sources.

The sources told Enab Baladi that the mechanism adopted in the plan will include replacing current electricity meters with smart meters connected to Wi-Fi service. An estimated 6.5 million smart meters will be installed, at a cost ranging between $60 and $70 per meter, paid by consumers and possibly divided across bills.

One source noted that Syria currently produces 6 million cubic meters of gas, while it needs 30 million cubic meters, and local electricity production stands at 2,200 megawatts.

As for imported Azerbaijani gas, the issue related to it is not its quality, as it is high quality, but the deterioration of the pumps operating at power plants, which causes shorter supply hours.

The two sources confirmed that the problem of uneven electricity rationing is linked to provincial infrastructure. For example, Damascus Governorate has better infrastructure than Rural Damascus, as the latter was subjected to bombing and destruction by the former regime.