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Libya Online Casino Guide

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

Libya prohibits gambling. There is no lawful casino, lottery, betting or online gambling market, no gambling regulator and no licensing system. Land-based gambling is an offence under the Libyan Penal Code, first promulgated in 1953, and Law No. 5 of 2022 on combating cybercrimes makes both operating and taking part in online gambling punishable by imprisonment. The legal picture is complicated by a political division that has persisted since 2014, with rival executive authorities in Tripoli and in the east, and by a targeted United Nations sanctions regime that has applied since 2011.

Key points

According to a 2023 law-firm chapter in the CMS expert guide, gambling is prohibited under Articles 492 to 495 of the Libyan Penal Code, with penalties of fines of 10 to 50 Libyan dinars (LYD) and imprisonment of one to six months.
Article 31 of Law No. 5 of 2022 punishes anyone who owns, operates or promotes an online gambling business with at least two years’ imprisonment and a fine of LYD 10,000 to 20,000; a person who gambles online is liable to imprisonment.
No body licenses gambling, and Libyan law contains no gambling licensing regime of any kind.
The UN sanctions regime established by Security Council resolution 1970 (2011) is targeted: an arms embargo, asset freezes and travel bans on listed persons and entities, and measures against illicit petroleum exports. It is not a comprehensive trade embargo.
Libya was not on the FATF lists of jurisdictions under increased monitoring or subject to a call for action as of June 2026, but foreign-exchange access remains constrained.
No national responsible gambling, self-exclusion or helpline scheme exists.

Last reviewed: 14 October 2026.

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Historical development

Gambling venues existed in Libya during the Italian colonial period (1911 to 1943). An early twentieth-century lantern slide held by Columbia University’s Department of Art History and Archaeology is captioned, in Italian, “Albergo Casino Uaddan” and in English “one of the sumptuous new hotels in Tripoli, the Hotel-Casino Uddan” (Columbia University, Media Center for Art History). No reliable source was found documenting the extent of casino or betting activity under colonial rule or under the monarchy that followed independence in 1951.

The Libyan Penal Code dates from the monarchy. Catalogues maintained by the University of Nottingham’s Criminal Justice and Detention database and the UNODC SHERLOC legal library both date the code to 1953. It has been amended many times, as an unofficial English transcription on the DCAF Libya security-legislation portal shows.

After the military takeover of 1 September 1969, the Revolutionary Command Council led by Muammar Qadhafi pursued a programme of social and legal Islamisation. In a study of the period, the historian Mohamed A. El-Khawas records that the sale and consumption of alcohol, which had been allowed under the monarchy, was banned, and that “nightclubs and bars were closed”. He also describes steps from October 1971 to make sharia a principal source of legislation, and a law of November 1973 that “incorporated the Sharia in all facets of the Libyan legal system” (El-Khawas, Qaddafi and Islam in Libya). The Library of Congress country study similarly refers to “closing bars and nightclubs” and the revision of the judicial system to conform to sharia (Metz (ed.), Libya: A Country Study, 1987). Neither source refers to gambling or casinos specifically, and no primary text of a post-1969 measure closing casinos could be located, so whether and when any such closure occurred could not be verified.

Following the 2011 uprising, the National Transitional Council issued a Constitutional Declaration that remains the main constitutional text in the absence of a permanent constitution. Since 2014 Libya has had competing institutions; the current configuration is described below.

Legal framework

Islamic law as a source of legislation

Article 1 of the 2011 Constitutional Declaration provides that “Islam shall be its religion and Islamic Shari’a shall be the main source of legislation” (Constitute Project, Libya 2011 (rev. 2012)). Gambling (maysir or qimar) is prohibited in Islamic jurisprudence.

The Penal Code

According to the Libya chapter of the CMS Expert Guide to Gambling Laws in Africa, written by a senior associate at a Tripoli law firm and dated 16 August 2023, “gambling is strictly prohibited under Articles 492-495 of the Libyan Penal Code”, with penalties of fines from LYD 10 to 50 and imprisonment from one to six months. The chapter adds that, because these activities are treated as criminal offences, Libyan law does not regulate any licensing of gambling, games of chance or betting.

The article numbers above are reported by that law-firm chapter. The full text of these articles could not be retrieved from an official or academic copy of the code for this guide: the online versions consulted (UNODC SHERLOC and the DCAF portal) were incomplete and did not extend to the relevant part of the code. Readers needing the exact wording should consult the Arabic text published in the Official Gazette or a Libyan lawyer.

Law No. 5 of 2022 on combating cybercrimes

Online gambling is dealt with expressly by Law No. 5 of 2022 Concerning Combating Cybercrimes, adopted by the House of Representatives. According to ARTICLE 19, the law was ratified by the House on 26 October 2021 and took effect on publication on 27 September 2022. Article 31, headed “Gambling”, has two parts, according to the English translation published by the Libyan Law Society:

anyone who “owns or operates a gambling business”, or who “offers, facilitates, encourages, or promotes the establishment of a gambling business” on the internet or by other electronic means, is punished with imprisonment for at least two years and a fine of not less than LYD 10,000 and not more than LYD 20,000; and
anyone “who gambles on the international information network or other electronic means” is punished with imprisonment.

The second paragraph is significant: unlike many prohibition regimes that target only operators, Libya’s cybercrime law creates an offence for the individual online player. The translation consulted does not specify the length of the term.

Divided governance and the reach of the law

Libya has been, in the words of an Al Jazeera report, “riven by divisions since civil war broke out in 2014” (Al Jazeera, May 2022). As described by Security Council Report in its August 2026 forecast, the UN-recognised Government of National Unity (GNU), led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, is based in Tripoli and is advised by the High State Council. An eastern-based administration, the Government of National Stability, led by Osama Hamad, is backed by the House of Representatives and by the Libyan National Army commanded by Khalifa Haftar. National elections have been postponed since 2021, and the two sides remained deadlocked over electoral legislation in mid-2026.

This guide takes no position on the competing claims. For gambling purposes the practical point is that the Penal Code and the 2022 cybercrime law are treated as national legislation, and no source consulted indicates that either authority has adopted a different approach to gambling. No published data on gambling prosecutions in either part of Libya were found.

Regulator and licensing model

Libya follows a prohibition model: rather than licensing and supervising gambling, the law treats it as a criminal offence. There is therefore no gambling regulator, no licensing authority, no register of licensed operators and no state lottery or tote. The CMS chapter answers “No” to whether betting, sports betting, skill games, card games, casinos, lotteries or arcades are specifically regulated, and notes that while Libyan law does not bar licences for entertainment companies, it does not provide for gambling licences (CMS Expert Guide).

The same chapter names the National Authority for Information Security and Safety (NISSA), established by Cabinet Resolution No. 28 of 2013, as the relevant authority for online matters. NISSA is not a gambling regulator; its role, discussed below, concerns internet monitoring and the blocking of content.

Online gambling and enforcement

No online gambling service is licensed in Libya, and none can be. Offering online gambling to people in Libya, and gambling online from Libya, are both criminal offences under Article 31 of Law No. 5 of 2022, as set out above. Promotion of an online gambling business is captured by the same article, so advertising or facilitating such a service in Libya is also an offence.

Website blocking

Blocking means an instruction to internet service providers to prevent access to particular websites. Under Article 8 of the cybercrime law, NISSA “must block websites or electronic pages that display pornographic materials or materials contrary to public morals”, and Article 7 allows it to monitor online content and block material that may harm “social peace” (Law No. 5 of 2022). Gambling is not named in either article; whether NISSA blocks gambling sites in practice could not be verified. ARTICLE 19 has called for the law’s repeal, arguing that these powers lack judicial oversight (ARTICLE 19).

Payments and foreign exchange

No specific measure blocking payments to gambling operators was found. Cross-border payments from Libya are, however, constrained more generally. The CMS chapter records that exchange controls restrict the movement of cash into and out of the country. In April 2025 the Central Bank of Libya devalued the dinar by 13.3 per cent, the second such adjustment in five years, and AFP reported that businesses relied heavily on the parallel (unofficial) currency market to obtain foreign exchange (AFP via Arab News, April 2025).

Anti-money laundering standards

Libya is a member of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF), the regional body that assesses compliance with the anti-money laundering standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). At a meeting on 3 September 2025, Libya’s National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing reviewed the schedule for Libya’s third-round mutual evaluation by MENAFATF (Central Bank of Libya); the FATF lists a possible on-site visit in July 2029. As of the FATF statements of 19 June 2026, Libya was not listed among the jurisdictions under increased monitoring or among those subject to a call for action.

International sanctions

The UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Libya by resolution 1970, adopted on 26 February 2011 during the uprising against the Qadhafi government (UN News). According to the UN Security Council 1970 Sanctions Committee, the current measures are:

an arms embargo on the supply of arms and related materiel to Libya and on Libyan exports of such items, with exemptions adjusted by later resolutions;
a travel ban on individuals designated by the Committee;
an asset freeze on designated individuals and entities; the original freeze on six entities now covers only the Libyan Investment Authority and the Libyan Africa Investment Portfolio, for assets held outside Libya before 16 September 2011; and
measures against illicit petroleum exports, introduced by resolution 2146 (2014), which apply to vessels designated by the Committee.

These are targeted sanctions, aimed at listed persons, entities and vessels and at arms transfers, rather than a comprehensive trade embargo on Libya. The United States implements its own Libya programme under Executive Orders 13566 (2011) and 13726 (2016) and the Libyan Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR Part 570, which block the property of designated persons (OFAC, Libya sanctions). The European Union’s measures are set out in Council Regulation (EU) 2016/44 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Libya. For gambling purposes the sanctions do not create a separate gambling prohibition, but financial institutions screen transactions involving Libya against these lists, which adds to the friction on cross-border payments. This summary is not legal advice.

Position of players

Libyan law penalises players as well as operators. According to the CMS chapter, “those caught engaging in illegal gambling” face fines of LYD 10 to 50 and one to six months’ imprisonment under the Penal Code. For online gambling the position is clearer: Article 31(2) of Law No. 5 of 2022 provides that anyone who gambles on the internet or by other electronic means “shall be punished with imprisonment”.

No published reports of individual players being prosecuted or sentenced for gambling in Libya, whether offline or online, were found for this guide. Court records and police statistics are not systematically published, so the absence of reports does not show that the law is unenforced.

Taxation

Because gambling is unlawful, Libya has no gambling tax, no licence fees and no tax treatment of gambling winnings. No official estimate of illegal gambling activity exists.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

There is no national responsible gambling framework in Libya. No self-exclusion register, statutory helpline or publicly funded treatment service for gambling disorder was found in any of the sources consulted. Because no operator is licensed, a person who uses an online gambling site from Libya has no local complaint route or dispute resolution body and no legal means of recovering losses, in addition to the criminal exposure described above.

People concerned about their own or someone else’s gambling may find general information in our responsible gambling guide. No gambling-specific support provider in Libya could be identified.

Recent and upcoming developments

Cybercrime law (2022 to date). Law No. 5 of 2022, in force since September 2022, is the first Libyan statute found to address online gambling expressly. No amendment affecting Article 31 was found as of October 2026.
Anti-money laundering reform (2025). In September 2025 Libya’s national AML/CFT committee reviewed a draft anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing law then before the legislature, in preparation for the MENAFATF mutual evaluation. At its first meeting of 2026, on 9 April 2026, the committee warned of the “continued non-adoption” of the draft law, which it said left Libya without a legislative framework aligned with international standards (Central Bank of Libya, April 2026); no later adoption was found.
Sanctions (2025 to 2026). Resolution 2769 (2025) adjusted the arms embargo and allowed the Libyan Investment Authority to invest frozen cash reserves under conditions. OFAC announced Libya-related designations and removals in September 2025, May 2026 and September 2026.
Gambling policy. No proposal to legalise or regulate any form of gambling in Libya was found from either authority.

Casino listings for players in Libya

The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. No operator is licensed in Libya, because Libyan law contains no gambling licensing system and there is no regulator or register to check. Gambling is unlawful under the Penal Code, and both offering and taking part in online gambling are criminal offences under Law No. 5 of 2022. The listings must not be read as an indication that playing is lawful in Libya. International sanctions also restrict dealings with designated Libyan persons and entities, and banks may restrict or scrutinise payments involving Libya.

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Libya Online Casino Guide

Key points

Online casinos for Libya

Historical development

Legal framework

Islamic law as a source of legislation

The Penal Code

Law No. 5 of 2022 on combating cybercrimes

Divided governance and the reach of the law

Regulator and licensing model

Online gambling and enforcement

Website blocking

Payments and foreign exchange

Anti-money laundering standards

International sanctions

Position of players

Taxation

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Recent and upcoming developments

Casino listings for players in Libya

Related country guides

Sources and further reading

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