In the refugee camps, Palestinian elements implement an autonomous judicial system in which rival factions try opponents without due process. Hezbollah applies Islamic law in the area it controls. Although it is a civil justice system, Lebanese courts do not hesitate to follow established precedents, usually introduced by landmark judgments of the Court of Cassation. In addition, there are numerous court decisions based on precedents established in France or Egypt, the two most influential legal systems in Lebanon. This first part aimed to shed light on the state of civilian justice in Lebanon, the systemic deficiencies it suffers, which allow for broad political influence, and reform efforts. The second part highlights another branch of the Lebanese judicial system, administrative justice. The Lebanese legal system is based on a combination of civil law, Islamic and Ottoman legal principles, and laws of the Lebanese legislature. Article 20 of the Lebanese Constitution guarantees that the judiciary will be established as an independent entity subject only to the law. Legislative Decree No. 7855 of 1961, known as the Law on the Organization of the Judiciary, regulates the structure and function of the judiciary. The legal system is governed by a number of specialized pieces of legislation.

These include the 1932 Code of Obligations and Contracts, which is the main source of civil law; the Code of Civil Procedure, contained in Legislative Decree No. 90 of 1983; the Commercial Code of 1942; the Penal Code, originally formulated in Legislative Decree No. 340 of 1943; and the Code of Criminal Procedure. Two branches of the Lebanese judiciary play a key role in protecting public funds, holding corrupt officials accountable, and respecting civil liberties: civil justice and administrative justice. Given the importance of each of these two branches of justice, this analysis is divided into two parts – the first part focuses on civil justice and the second on administrative justice – and examines why Lebanese courts have almost never been able to hold the country`s political elite to account. The analysis will also highlight recent efforts by civil society and independent political groups to bring much-needed systemic changes to the justice system. Lebanon`s civil and administrative justice system urgently needs reform, because without an independent judiciary, Lebanon can escape the socio-economic abyss into which it has been thrown by state leaders. In an interview with a prominent Lebanese journalist in early August 2021, Legal Agenda Executive Director Nizar Saghieh sharply criticized the parliamentary committee`s amendments, stating bluntly that the 33 months since the bill have been a period of “organized sabotage” by the parliamentary subcommittee, and that the current civil justice system, Despite its glaring systemic flaws, remains better than the system. that the amended legislative proposal attempts to establish.

Ensuring that this amended version is not adopted is the next step in the fight for an independent and transparent civil justice system. Pressure from below, backed by reformist independent judges, is of the utmost necessity in this regard. The ultimate power of review rests with the Minister of Justice, who appoints the judges. The fifty-six courts of first instance are presided over by a single judge and hear both civil and criminal cases; 17 of these courts are located in Beirut. Appeals may be lodged with eleven courts of appeal, each composed of three judges. Of the four courts of cassation, three hear civil cases and one criminal case. A six-member Council of State deals with administrative matters. A Constitutional Council, as required by the Taif Agreement, rules on the constitutionality of laws at the request of 10 deputies. Religious courts – Islamic, Christian and Jewish – deal with marriages, deaths, inheritances and other matters of personal status in their respective religions. There is also a separate system of military tribunals that deals with cases involving military personnel and military matters. www.mallat.com/articles/lb_legal_system_page_1.htm Since mid-2019, Lebanon has been “sinking” – to use the term of a recent World Bank report – as the political and socio-economic structures that have underpinned the country since the end of the civil war have collapsed.

But the current financial and economic crisis in Lebanon is long overdue. Kleptocratic warlords turned politicians, private sector oligarchs monopolizing key sectors of the economy, and banking financiers used public money at will, awarded themselves lucrative public contracts, and seized state property to distribute patronage to their sectarian clientele. Since the end of the civil war, the country has been run in a kleptocratic loot distribution system. Transparency, oversight and accountability in the Lebanese State were deliberately rendered virtually non-existent by the above-mentioned triumvirate. Legal system: mixed civil law legal system based on the French Civil Code, the Ottoman legal tradition and religious law, covering marital status, marriage, divorce and other family relations of the Jewish, Islamic and Christian communities More than a quarter of a century later, the civil justice system still suffers from this “suffocation”. There is still a large backlog of cases, while computerized data and easy access to legal information remain insufficient. In addition, judges` remuneration and fees remain relatively meagre, and the executive branch has repeatedly threatened to reduce the government`s financial allocations and financial autonomy – most recently in the 2019 state budget, when this year`s “austerity budget” aimed to reduce judges` stipends to the investment fund and remove all exemptions to which they are entitled. This politicized prosecutor`s office manifested itself in April and May 2021, when a public dispute broke out between prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat, close to the Future Movement, and Lebanese prosecutor, Judge Ghada Aoun, perceived as a sympathizer of the Free Patriotic Movement. The latter attempted to investigate a foreign exchange company that allegedly engaged in money laundering and illicit enrichment in late 2019 with the full consent of politicians and a local bank, and even searched the company`s offices with a group of supporters looking for evidence.

The dramatic act came after the prosecutor, with the blessing of the HJC, removed Judge Aoun from the case last week and the two exchanged diatribes against each other on social media. The situation became comically absurd when supporters of both judges put up signs and advertisements on billboards defending their respective judges. No wonder a former member of HJC L`Orient-Le Jour, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that “the judicial system has never been so close to collapsing.” Definition: This entry contains a description of a country`s legal system. For a number of countries, a statement on judicial review of legislative acts is also included. The legal systems of almost all countries are generally based on elements of five main types: civil law (including French law, the Napoleonic Code, Roman law, Roman-Dutch law and Spanish law); common law (including U.S. law); Common law; mixed or pluralistic law; and religious law (including Islamic law).