Who are the dissident prosecutors and judges of Syria? The word dissident used here refers to “a person who opposes official policy, especially that of an authoritarian state”. And Syria as ruled by Bashar al-Assad is an authoritarian state. Why have the dissident judges and prosecutors, a majority of them men, but also some women, defected? How have they organised themselves to actively oppose the regime while attempting to provide judicial services to a population under siege? There are a number of associations that were formed locally: the Judges’ Club (July 2012), the Free Judicial Council (September 2012), the Integrated Judicial Council of Aleppo and the Sharia Council of Aleppo (December 2012), the Independent Judicial Council (February 2013), the Higher Judicial Institute of Syria (February 2013), the Free and Independent Judicial Council (May 2013), and finally the Ministry of Justice of the Syrian Interim Government of the National Coalition (November 2013). Though their common enemy is Bashar al-Assad and his supporters, there exists a certain amount of discord as to what laws should rule Syria and who should apply them. How have the initial objectives of these dissident associations changed? What comprises have their members been obliged to make in the name of unity? In addition to dissident prosecutors and judges, there are dissident courts, that is to say non-state courts established by opponents to the regime. Most of these courts are located in the northern part of Syria, in regions called the “liberated zones”. Who administers these dissident courts and appoints its judges and staff? Who sits on these courts and which laws are applied in these courts? Many of the dissident courts have chosen to apply draft laws of the Arab League based on Islamic law, al-Sharia. Why have they decided to apply al-Sharia, albeit in its modern form of codified law? How does one explain this revival of al-Sharia? These are some of the questions the presentation will answer. The main sources for this paper are Internet sources: the Facebook accounts, and websites of dissident individuals and groups; YouTube videos posted by members of the judiciary announcing their defection and showing how the dissident courts function; official documents of the Syrian government posted on the Web; interviews, news reports and bulletins of satellite news channels, dissident news websites and blogs.