France’s top court invalidates arrest warrant for Syria's Assad

France’s highest court ruled on July 25 that the arrest warrant issued in 2023 for former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is invalid, as it was filed while he was still in office. However, the court confirmed that a new warrant can now be issued, since Assad no longer holds presidential status.

The arrest warrant was initially issued by French investigating magistrates in November 2023, as part of an inquiry into chemical weapons attacks carried out in August 2013 in Douma and Eastern Ghouta. Those attacks killed more than 1,000 people and drew widespread international condemnation. Assad’s government had denied responsibility for the use of chemical weapons during the civil war, which began in 2011, Caliber.Az reports per Reuters.

In December 2024, Assad was ousted by Islamist rebels in a swift military campaign that ended five decades of Assad family rule. The rebel leader subsequently assumed the role of interim president. Assad later fled to Russia.

The Court of Cassation’s decision overturns an earlier ruling by the Paris Court of Appeal, which had upheld the validity of the warrant. French prosecutors had contested that decision, arguing that it violated international norms on head-of-state immunity.

“International custom does not allow any exception to the personal immunity of a foreign head of state during the entire duration of their term in office, even when the alleged acts constitute genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity,” the Court of Cassation said in a statement.

“The arrest warrant issued at a time when this person was the head of state of Syria is therefore invalid ... However, an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity can now be issued since this person no longer holds the position of Head of State,” it added.

In a separate case, French authorities issued another arrest warrant for Assad in January 2025, citing his suspected complicity in war crimes. That investigation centers on the 2017 death of Salah Abou Nabour, a Franco-Syrian national who was killed in a bombing raid in Syria.

While sitting heads of state are generally protected from legal action under international immunity laws, exceptions exist in cases involving war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide. France permits its courts to prosecute such crimes regardless of where they were committed.

By Sabina Mammadli