The independence of the Lebanese judiciary : system loopholes and political willingness to interfere

Abstract

The principle of the independence of the judiciary, as protected by international and regional apparatuses for the promotion and fortification of human rights, is indispensable to the existence of the rule of law. To guarantee independence in executing legal standards and safeguarding respect of citizens’ rights, the Judiciary must be impartial and independent of the two other legislative and executive powers. However, the judiciary in Lebanon lacks independence and the purpose of this study is to build a framework for understanding the dynamics of the lack of judicial independence in Lebanon. The lack of judicial independence in Lebanon is already locally and internationally widely acknowledged, and several entities have presented a number of recommendations, however these recommendations, and despite many efforts towards an independent judiciary, are not yet fulfilled. In this context, more understanding is needed of the larger picture: what are the dynamics of the lack of judicial independence in Lebanon? To answer this question, the first chapter of this study analyses the structure of the Lebanese judiciary and the laws that regulate its administration. It examines the system’s gaps and loopholes, the second one examines the behavior of political elites in Lebanon to show that they do not support the independence of the judiciary and that they have the will to interfere in judicial matters. In this chapter I also refer to an online survey testing the Lebanese’ trust in their judicial system. The third chapter explains more the attempts towards an independent judiciary in Lebanon and why they failed. These chapters show mainly that the independence of the judiciary is very difficult to be applied with the absence of the political will. The results of these chapters suggest that judicial susceptibility to political influence, along with the readiness of political elites to employ such influence, can better be described as the oxygen that starts the fire, whereas the other aspects are sheer sparks.