President Assad issued a decree on Thursday ending Syria's 48-year state of emergency, though without abolishing the Emergency Law which will remain in place for possible use in future emergencies.

At the same time, he issued another decree (full text here) which ostensibly permits demonstrations by "duly licensed citizens" while giving the interior ministry sweeping powers to control them. In effect, it allows the authorities to prevent any demonstration they disapprove of.

Though the restrictions imposed by the emergency law were in theory temporary, the decree now creates a permanent law restricting demonstrations.

To obtain a licence, organisers must apply to the interior ministry at least five days in advance. 

"The request should include the demonstration date, starting time, the gathering place, its course, ending time, goals, causes and slogans." 

Applicants must also provide a legal document accepting responsibility "for all damages that may affect public and private properties". (This is a huge deterrent, since organisers may have no control over damage or injury caused by third parties during the demonstration.)

The ministry must give a written reply within one week of receiving the request (which in effect means the notice period is a week rather than the five days specified).

In the case of a refusal, the ministry must give its reasons. There is a right of appeal to the Administrative Court, which has to give a decision within one week. (This would add a further delay, so in practice organisers could be looking at a total preparation time of more than two weeks.)

Assuming that a licence is granted, the interior ministry has the power to "change the demonstration date, starting and ending time, the gathering place or its course" up to 24 hours before the demonstration is due to start. 

Although such changes are not supposed to be made unless they "affect the state's interests or threaten the citizens' safety and properties", the wording is sufficiently broad for the authorities to make a habit of last-minute changes which could reduce the number of demonstrators by causing confusion about the location, timing, etc, of the protest.

The authorities are responsible for "protecting the demonstration" but it is the responsibility of the organisers to "maintain order during the demonstration". They can "call upon the police for help if needed".

Article 8 of the presidential decree gives the interior ministry "the right to end the demonstration if it exceeds what is permitted in the licence or if riots or crimes are committed that may affect the general order or impede the authorities' work". Infringement of the terms of a licence on a technicality – as I mentioned the other dayin connection Addomari newspaper – is a device used by the Syrian authorities to suppress activities that they disapprove of while denying that they are trying to suppress them.

Article 9 forbids the carrying of weapons or sharp objects during demonstrations. This is unobjectionable in principle but the question is why it had to be included in the demonstrations law. Isn't there a general law against carrying offensive weapons at any time? It's difficult to see why this has been included here, unless it is to give the authorities an excuse to stop and search demonstrators.

The final provision is that "gathering[s] or rallies organised contrary to the articles of this legislative decree" are deemed to be riots. This is an extraordinary extension of the term "riot", since it appears to cover any kind of nonviolent protest that has not been approved in advance by the authorities.

Considering that this is what passes for "reform" in Syria, it is not difficult to understand why so many protesters see no hope of real change while the Assad regime stays in power.

UPDATE, 1800 BST 22 April: "The first application to protest under the new law ended in the temporary detention of the applicant. Fadel al-Faisal from Hassakeh was held for several hours after filing a request to hold a demonstration."