Legal Texts

The Law of the judicial judiciary and the Judicial Organization issued by virtue of the legislative decree number 150/83 dated 16/09/1983, and its amendments.

• The Code of Civil Procedure, issued by virtue of the legislative decree number 90/83 dated 16/09/1983, and its amendments.
• The Labor Law, issued on 23/09/1946, and its modifications.
• The Law executed per decree number 3572 dated 21/10/1980 pertaining to the competence of the Arbitral Labor Councils in terms of examining the individual labor disputes and the disputes arising from the application of the Social Security Law.   
• The law of the collective labor contracts and mediation and arbitration, executed per decree number 17386 dated 02/09/1964.
• The decision number 186 dated 15/03/1926 pertaining to the delimitation and the release of real estate properties, and its amendments.
• The Law of the blocking of the school tuitions in the private not-gratis schools issued by virtue of the law number 136 dated 30/04/1992, and its amendments.
• The decree number 9812 dated 04/05/1968 which has placed into execution the project of the speedy law submitted to the Parliament by virtue of the decree number 8451 dated 21/10/1967 and pertaining to organize the insurance committees, according to the fundamental amendment of its article 48 by the law number 94 dated 18/06/1999.
• The law number 58 dated 08/12/1965 pertaining to the modification of the housing law issued on 17/09/1962, and its amendments.
• The law of Consumers Protection number 659 dated 04/02/2005.
• The law pertaining to the creation of the National Establishment for the guarantee of deposits and the modification and the completion of the legislation regarding the banks and the principles of laying hands on these banks, issued per law number 28 dated 09/05/1967 and its amendments (the establishment of the High Banking Board).
• The law of reforming the banking situation, number 110 dated 7/11/1991 and its amendments (the establishment of the Special Banking Courts).
• The appropriation law, number 58 dated 29/05/1991, and its amendments.

Definition of Civil Courts

In general, the Civil Judiciary is handled by:

• The Courts of First Instance
• The Courts of Appeal
• The Court of Cassation

 
However, and exceptionally, the special or specialized courts handle the examination of some of the disputes, according to the laws and regulations issued for these courts, and according to the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure that are not in contradiction to these laws.


Courts of First Instance

Historical background

The legislative decree number 6 dated 30/02/1930 stipulated that the courts on the Lebanese territory would be composed of:

1. The Reconciliatory Courts.
2. The Primary Courts
3. The Appeals and Cassation Courts.

 
 

• The laws subsequent to the mentioned decree number 6/30 and that concerns the judicial organization have maintained the Reconciliatory Courts until 1950 when the law of the judicial organization was issued (on 10/05/1950) and cancelled the Reconciliatory Court system and established the system of the Single Judge solely at the level of the court of first instances.
• On 16/10/1961 the law of the judicial organization was issued, establishing the system of the Single Judge alongside the Chamber concerning the Courts of First Instance, which became composed of chambers handled each by a president and two members and by departments handled each by a single judge.
• The situation remained as such after the issue of legislative decree number 150 dated 16/09/1983 (the legal judiciary).

Formation of the Courts of First Instance

The courts of first instance consist of chambers, composed -each- of one president and two members, of sections in which single judges handle the judiciary. The chambers of the courts of first instance are known by the "Primary Chambers".

• Only judges of the second degree and above may be appointed as single judges.
• Only judges of the fourth degree and above may be appointed as presidents of chambers in the courts of First Instance.
• The number of the courts of First Instance, their chambers and sections, the position of the chambers and sections, as well as the scope of their territorial competence, have been determined in the first schedule enclosed to the legislative decree number 150/83 (Refer to the section concerning the drawing of the judicial map for the distribution of the Courts).           
• The Primary Chamber is in principle in the headquarters of the province except for the provinces of Mount Lebanon and the Bekaa.
• As to the province of Mount Lebanon, there are several chambers in Jdeidet el Metn which examine the lawsuits that are sent to it from the districts of Metn, Kesrouan and Jbeil. Whereas in Baabda, the headquarters of the province, there are several chambers which examine the lawsuits that are sent to it from other districts of the mentioned province (and they are the Chouf, Aley and Baabda).
• As to the province of Bekaa, there are two primary chambers in its headquarters in Zahleh in addition to one chamber in Baalbeck.
• The Single Judges are in principle in the headquarters of the districts and the provinces.
• The Minister of Justice may authorize the chambers and the sections of the Courts of First Instance to hold their sessions outside their headquarters in places that would be determined per a decision taken after the consultation of the Supreme Council of Justice.
• The work is distributed among the chambers of the headquarters per a decision of the Minister of Justice after the approval of the Supreme Council of Justice, upon a proposal of the First President of the Court of Appeals which this court is related to.

 
The same rule is applied to the distribution of the work among the sections of the headquarters.


Competence of the Courts of First Instance

• The chamber is considered an ordinary court that has a global competence in the civil and commercial cases except for cases that are assigned by a special text to another court.
•  The primary chamber is competent in examining the lawsuits which value is not determined, or which value is determined and that exceeds one hundred million Lebanese pounds, at the exception of those which are included in the competence of a Single Judge or a special court.

Competence of the Primary Chamber
The principle is that the chamber is regarded as the ordinary court of unlimited jurisdiction in civil and commercial litigation. With the exception of what was allowed by special text to another court.
In this sense, the Trial Chamber has the jurisdiction to rule on trial whose value is not provided, as if on trial whose value exceeds the fixed sum of one hundred million Lebanese pounds, except those falling according their nature in the jurisdiction of a single judge or jurisdiction of a special tribunal.

Competence of the Single Judge
The Single Judge examines, exclusively, the following civil and commercial cases:

1. The personal lawsuits and those concerning movables or immovable goods which value does not exceed one hundred million Lebanese pounds.
2. The civil status lawsuits with the exception of the ones that concern the issue of nationality.
3. The requests for limitation of succession unless they include a litigation concerning the determination of the heirs or the succession shares.
4. The lawsuits concerning the lease contracts of the movable and immovable properties and the free management, whatever is their value, and the lawsuits concerning the occupancy with all the motions and pleadings related to this lawsuit.
5. The acquisition lawsuits.
6. The lawsuits concerning the prevention of attacking the right for irrigation.
7. The lawsuits concerning the servitude rights.
8. The lawsuits concerning the determination of borders.
9. The lawsuits of the Referee Judge.

And the competence of the Real Estate Judge is taken into consideration.
 
The Single Judge, in his quality of the head of the Execution Department, handles the matters pertaining to the execution and examines the content of the issues related to the execution procedures, whereas, concerning the issues not related to such procedures, he may take temporary measures according to the principles applicable before the Referee Judge, noting that the execution department is connected to the Court of first instance and is chaired by the Single Judge in the area to which this department is related.

Courts of Appeal

Formation
The Court of Appeals is composed of a president and two consultants, and is located in principle at the headquarters of the province.

• Only judges of the sixth degree and above may be appointed as presidents of chambers in the Courts of Appeals.
• Only judges of the fourth degree and above may be appointed as consultants in the Courts of Appeals.
• The number of the Courts of Appeals, their headquarters, the extent of their territorial competences, the number of chambers as well as their judges have been determined in the second schedule enclosed to the legislative decree number 150/83.
• Regarding the Province of Mount Lebanon, this schedule has mentioned the existence of chambers which headquarters are located in Jdeidet el Metn, that examine the appeals in the civil and penal cases of the districts of Metn, Kesrouan and Jbeil (Byblos), in addition to the other chambers that exist at the headquarters of the province in Baabda.
• Regarding the Province of Bekaa, this schedule has mentioned the existence of appeals chambers in Baalbeck that examine the appeals of civil and penal cases, in addition to the other chambers that exit at the headquarters of the province in Zahleh.
• The Courts of Appeals may be authorized to hold their sessions outside their headquarters per a decree taken after consultation of the Supreme Council of Justice upon the suggestion of the Minister of Justice.
• The work is distributed among the chambers of one Court of Appeals per a decision of the Minister of Justice after obtaining the approval of the Supreme Council of Justice upon the suggestion of the First President of this Court.

Competence

• The Court of Appeals examines the appeal of judgments and the decisions that can be brought in appeal and that are issued within its area by the following authorities :
  1. The Courts of first instance in the civil and commercial cases.
  2. The execution departments and the committees and the boards as provided for in the law.
  
  It examines as well the requests for dismissing the judges of the Courts of First Instance from examining the lawsuits, and it examines any other request or way of revision that the law entrust it with examining.
• The appeal is one of the ordinary ways of revision that is brought to the second instance court with the intention of canceling or modifying a decision given by the Court of First Instance. And the appeal is an application to the principle of two instances prosecution, and when presented, it leads to the suspension of the execution of the primary judgment against which the appeal was brought, during the period of its examination, in addition to the fact that the appeal period interrupts in itself the execution of the abovementioned judgment unless it is of urgent execution type.
  And the appeal presents the case on which a judgment was pronounced to the Court of Appeals in order to be examined again in the facts and in the law.

And in case the judgment pronounced by the Court of First Instance has not settled the content of the case and was limited to reject it for procedural pleading or for any of the pleadings of rejection, then the appeal of this judgment entitles the Court of Appeals to settle its subject, in case it overruled the judgment of the court of first instance.
• As for the judgments that may be brought to the Court of Appeals and for the appeal’s procedures, one needs to refer to the section of “Procedures of Judicial Action”.

First President of the Court of Appeal

• Each Court of Appeals has a First President, who usually heads the First Chamber.
• Only judges of the tenth degree and above may be appointed as First Presidents of the Courts of Appeals.
• The First President watches over the good and normal fulfillment of the works in the departments related to him. When necessary, he informs the head of the Supreme Council of Justice about the difficulties that may occur in this regard and about the urgent important cases.
  He may appoint a judge among the judges that are under his control to accomplish the works of one of the judges of the Court of First Instance or the Court of Appeals or one of the Public Prosecutors or the Examining Judges, in case one of those is unable to accomplish his work for any reason.
• The judicial rotation during the judicial vacation is organized per a decision of the First President of the Court of Appeals after consulting the Public in appeals regarding the judges of the public prosecution and the examining justice.

Court of Cassation

Historical Background

• On 09/03/1925 was issued the decision number 3018 that gave the Court of Cassation legal and penal jurisdictions.
• On 03/02/1930 was issued the legislative decree number 6 which cancelled the Court of Cassation.
• On 10/08/1934 was issued the decision number 178 L.R. that reestablished the Court of Cassation and granted the said court vast jurisdiction among which to settle the administrative objections.
• On 22/11/1939 was issued the decision number 324 L.R. that cancelled the Court of Cassation and established the State Council to make a final judgment in the administrative objections, and this situation did not change with the judicial organization issued on 14/11/1944.
• On 10/05/1950 a new judicial organizational law was issued and reestablished the Cassation Court, giving the latter vast authorities including the administrative jurisdiction that was given to the State Council. This law adopted the unification of the Administrative and Judicial judiciary and made the court of cassation the unique supreme body and established an administrative chamber in it.
• On 09/01/1953 was issued the legislative decree number 14 that reestablished the State Council and cancelled the administrative chamber in the Court of Cassation.
• On 16/10/1961 was issued the Code of the Judicial Organization that created the Court of Cassation and the State council.
  It did as well form a special court to settle the disputes that may arise between the judicial judiciary and the administrative judiciary.
• On 16/09/1983 was issued the legislative decree number 150 that adopted the text of the Code of the Judicial Organization issued in 1961, in terms of the existence of two bodies, the Court of Cassation and the State Council.

Formation of the Court of Cassation

• The Court of Cassation is the Supreme Court at the head of the judiciary courts and is located in Beirut. It is composed of chambers. The number of its chambers, as well as the number of its judges and of those of the public prosecution in cassation, was fixed in the third schedule enclosed to the legislative decree number 150/1983.
  Each chamber is consisted of one president and two consultants.
•  Only judges of the tenth degree and above may be appointed as heads of the chambers at the Cassation Court.
•  Only judges of the eighth degree and above may be appointed as consultants at the Cassation Court.

Competence of the Court of Cassation

• The Civil Chamber examines the following civil and commercial cases :
  • The requests of cassation of the conclusive judgments pronounced by the Court of Appeals in the civil and commercial matters.
  • The requests of transferring lawsuits from one court to another of the same instance, in case the formation of the court panel is impossible due to the absence of the sufficient number of judges, or due to the impossibility of fulfilling the court work because of a “force majeure”, or in case there is a familial relation or an alliance (due to marriage), up to the fourth degree, between one of the parties and the Single Judge or between him and one of the judges in the court or the President of the court, or due to the existence of a cause justifying the doubt about the neutrality of the court, or in order to maintain the public order.
•  The appeal through the channels of cassation is possible for the following reasons :
  1. The violation of the law or the error in applying or explaining it. The appeal should include the text or the legal principle or the legal rule that were subject to the violation or the error, and should include as well the determination of the violation or the error.
  2. The violation of the rules of the functional or qualitative jurisdiction.
  3. The contradiction within the final legal clause pertaining to one judgment, leading to the impossibility of execution.
  4. The omission of settling in one of the requests.
  5. The settlement of what was not requested by the parties, or of more than what they requested.
  6. The inexistence of the legal basis, in a way that the actual reasons of the judgment are not sufficient or not clear in order to justify the legal solution that has been decided therein.
  7. The misrepresentation of the content of the documents through the mentioning of facts contrary to how they were mentioned in these documents or through contradicting the clear and explicit sense of their texts.
  8. The contradiction between two judgments issued by the last instance in the same lawsuit from two different courts or from one court.
•  The appeal in cassation is not considered as a third instance of the judicial procedures. The court of cassation has the authority of monitoring the good application and interpretation of the law. And when the court of cassation accepts the appeal and the revocation of the judgment which was subject to cassation, then the lawsuit is examined as a third reference in the court according to the procedures followed by the court of appeal.
•  The court of cassation works on unifying the jurisprudence, and the lower instance courts are not bound by its opinion according to the principle of the independence of the courts; however, its judgments have a moral effect towards the aforementioned courts.  

First President of the Court of Cassation

• The Court of Cassation is headed by the First President who is appointed by a decree issued by the Cabinet upon the suggestion of the Minister of Justice.
• Only judges of the fourteenth degree and above may be appointed as First President of the Court of Cassation.
• The First President heads -by right- the Supreme Council of Justice, the Judicial Council, the General Assembly of the Court of Cassation, the Disciplinary Council for judges and the Supreme Council for prosecuting presidents and ministers. He also handles, in rotation with the President of the State Council, the presidency of the Disputes Settlement Court, and handles with regard to the Court of Cassation the financial and administrative authorities entrusted with the minister by the law and the regulations, at the exception of the constitutional jurisdiction.
• He also distributes the works among the chambers of the Court of Cassation and may in addition to the chamber headed by him; head any of the civil or penal chambers. He does handle as well the jurisdiction exercised by the First President of the Court of Appeals.

 
General Assembly of the Court of Cassation

Formation

• The General Assembly of the Court of cassation is composed of:
• A President, who is the First President, and when it is impossible, the chamber’s head of the highest degree, and in case of equality in degrees, the oldest in the judicial service, and in case of equality in years of service, then the oldest in age.
• The heads of the chambers, as members.

Competence

• The Court of cassation -in its general assembly- examines:
  1. The lawsuits filed against the State regarding the responsibility arising from the works of the judicial judges.
  2. Cases of which the settlement requires to decide on an important legal principle, or of which the settlement may lead to a contradiction with previous judgments. And in this case the lawsuit is referred to it per a decision by the chamber examining the case.
  3. The requests for the determination of the competent authority, in case of the existence of a positive or a negative disagreement about the jurisdiction:
     1. Between two judicial courts.
     2. Between a judicial court and a religious court (for Islamic or non-Islamic communities).
     3. Between two religious courts of different types.
     4. Between two different religious courts of the same type.
  4. The objection to the final judgment pronounced by a religious court, for non-jurisdiction of this court, or for violating fundamental versions that concern the public order.
  5. The request to subject the judgments to cassation for the benefit of the law presented by the Public Prosecutor in the Court of Cassation.
• The decisions of the general assembly may only be issued by the president and four members at least and in case the votes are equal then the president would have the casting vote.

Special Courts and Judicial Committees

Arbitral Labor Council

• One or more Arbitral Labor Councils are established in the headquarters of each province. Each council is consisted of a judge -as president- form the eleventh degree or above according to the law pertaining to the competence of the Arbitral Labor Councils (which is equal to the sixth degree and above per the last amendments of the law of the judicial judiciary), appointed by virtue of a decree upon the suggestion of the minister of justice and after the approval of the Supreme Council of Justice, and consisted as well of two members, one representing the employers and the other representing the employees and they are both appointed per a decree upon the suggestion of the minister of labor and social affairs.
• Two attendant members (for the two original members) are as well appointed, one representing the employers, and the other representing the employees, in order to replace the two original members in case of absence.
• A Government Commissioner is appointed in the council as well, and he is selected among the third category employees in the public administrations provided that he would be a holder of a bachelor’s degree at law.

 
 
Its competence
 

• The text of the article 79 of the labor law issued on 23/9/1946 (and amended) stipulates that the Arbitral Labor Council is competent to examine the following cases:
  • The disagreements arising from the determination of the minimum wage.
  • The disagreements arising from the occupational accidents, stipulated in the legislative decree number 25 issued on 04/05/1943.
  • The disagreements arising from dismissal from service and leaving work, and imposing fines, and in general all the disagreements arising between employers and employees from the application of this law.
• Article two, in addition to article one, of the law dated 21/10/1980, pertaining to the competence of Arbitral Labor Council, stipulate that these councils are competent to examine the following cases:
  • The individual labor disputes arising from the work relations per the article 624, first paragraph, of the code of contracts and obligations (which stipulates that the lease of work or service is a contract by which one of the contractors is committed to put his work at the disposal of the other contractor and under his management, in return for a salary that the latter commits to pay him.)
  • The litigations and disagreements stipulated in the article 85 of the social security law (meaning those that may arise from the application of the social security law, whether among the insured and the employers or between the fund and the employers or the insured.)
• Filing lawsuits, and appearing, before the Arbitral Labor Councils, are possible without being represented by an attorney.
• The only ways to reconsider the judgments issued by the Arbitral Labor Councils are the objection, the objection of third persons, and the cassation.

Arbitral Committee examining the collective labor disputes

Formation
 
The law of collective labor contracts and mediation and arbitration stipulates that the arbitral committee examining the collective labor disputes is consisted of 9 members:

• Members appointed by right:
  • A judge of the tenth degree and above (which is equal to the seventh level and above per the last amendments of the law of the judicial judiciary) who is appointed by the Minister of Justice, as President.
  • The Director-General of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, as a vice-president.
  • The Director-General of the Ministry that is directly related to the professional activity of the two conflicting parties, as vice-president.
    An employee of the second category at least, from the concerned ministry, is appointed by a decision of the competent minister and he replaces the Director-General in case of his absence.
•  Members appointed for three years per a decree upon the suggestion of the Minister of Labor and Social affairs, and chosen from a schedule set by the professional syndicates and committees: three representatives of the employers and one attendant member for each one of them, and three representatives of the employees and an attendant member for each one of them.

 
 
Competence

• The arbitrary committee has jurisdiction to examine the collective labor disagreements, which are, in general, the disagreements that result from the interpretation or the execution or the application of the content of a collective labor contract, provided that these disputes are related to a collective interest and that one of its parties is a group of employees, knowing that the collective labor contract is an agreement per which are organized the conditions of work between a party representing a syndicate or more, or a union or more of the syndicates of employees, and another party who is an employer individually or more than one employer, or a representative of a professional committee or more than one committee, or a professional union for the employers or more than one union.
• The collective dispute should be settled through the Arbitral Committee in case the mediation has partially or fully failed :
  • Immediately at the end of the mediation, in case the dispute occurred in the interests that are submitted to the custody of the State or in the establishments assigned to administer the public utility to the account of the State or to its own account.
  • Any time, upon the request or the agreement of the conflicting parties, and the arbitration period starts in this case the day that follows the day of the submission of the request to the ministry of labor and social affairs.
  • After the expiry of fifteen days at least from the date of the collective interruption of work, due to a dispute, upon the request of one of the conflicting parties. And the arbitration period in this case starts on the second day following the notification of the arbitration request to the other party.      
• At the exception of the first case mentioned previously, the agreement is permitted, within the collective contracts or the special contracts, to settle a collective dispute through a special arbitrator or an arbitration committee that is chosen other than the arbitration committee provided for in the law.
• The decision of the arbitration committee is considered as irrevocable and enforceable from the date of its issuance and cannot be subject to any means of revision. And it is not subject to the decision of the executive formula.

High Banking Committee

Formation
 

• The law of the establishment of the national institution to guarantee the deposits and the modification and the completion of the legislation pertaining to the banks and the principles of their seizure stipulates the establishment of a body named “the high banking board” and constituted of:
  • The Governor of the Bank of Lebanon, as the president.
  • One of the deputies of the Governor of the Bank of Lebanon.
  • The Director-General of the Ministry of Finance.
  • A judge who practiced his functions in judiciary for ten years at least, who is appointed per a decree after the approval of the Supreme Council of Justice.
  • A member appointed per the suggestion of the Banks Association in the Control Committee.
    And the head of the National Establishment for the Guarantee of Deposits joins this board immediately at the time of its establishment.
• This board replaces the Penalty Committee provided for in the article 209 of the cash and credit law.  

     
 
Competence
 

• The High Banking Board (during a period fixed by the law, and that may be extended) may order seizure of any bank if it appears that the latter is unable to pursue its activities. The board may issue this decision as long as a judicial judgment has not been issued concerning the interruption of the bank from payment.
• In addition to many other jurisdictions provided for in the law.
• The decision of seizure becomes enforceable since its ratification by the council of ministers or after the expiry of the delay fixed to resolve it by the council without resolving it, and it is registered in the commercial registry and published in the Official Gazette and notified to the secretaries of the real estate registry.
• The decisions of the high banking board are final and cannot be subject to any means of ordinary or exceptional revision, administrative or judicial.

Special Banking Court

Formation
 
The law for the reform of the banking situation stipulates the establishment of a “Special Banking Court” in Beirut, composed of one judge of second degree and above (which is equal to the fifteenth level and above according to the last amendments to the law of the judicial judiciary), as a president, and of two judges of the fourth degree and above (which is equal to the thirteenth degree and above per the last amendments to the law of the judicial judiciary) and an expert in finance or accounting and an expert in banking, as members, and of three substitute judges (a president and two members). The president and the other members are appointed by virtue of a decree.
  
Competence
 

• The Special Banking Court (during a period fixed by the law, and that may be extended), and based on the justified referral by the governor of the bank of Lebanon, decides the seizure of any bank if it appears that it may not pursue its activities.
• In addition to many other jurisdictions provided for in the law.
• The decision of seizure is of urgent execution and is executable on its origin, and it is published with a list of the names of the trustees of the bank (as provided for in the law) in the Official Gazette and in two local newspapers.
• The decisions of the Special Banking Court are final, and cannot be subject to any means of revision, whether ordinary or exceptional.

Real Estate Judge (Additional Real Estate Judge)

• The Single Real Estate Judge handles the delimitation and the release of real estate properties and immovable funds in the districts and provinces.
• The appointment of the Additional Real Estate Judges is allowed. They are charged with replacing the incumbent Single Real Estate Judges when those are unable to accomplish their functions. They may also handle -upon the request of the secretary of the real estate registry- to explain the decisions issued by the Single Real Estate Judges, during the delimitation and release of real estate properties, and which have acquired the power of res judicata. They may also handle joining lands, or they may handle the determination of the amount of shares of each partner in the real estate that were registered in the names of several partners without fixing the amount of the common shares per the minutes of delimitation and release, and that in case of non-agreement of the partners to determine the amount of the share of each of them by mutual consent.

Arbitral Council for the private non-gratis school

Formation
 

• According to the law of the freezing of the school tuitions from the non-gratis private schools, the Arbitral Council is composed of a judge, as a president, and two consultants, one of them representing the owners of the schools and the other representing the parents committees or the students trustees in the educational region, and each of the two has a substitute. The members are appointed by virtue of a decree.
• A Government Commissioner represents the government before the Arbitral Council.
• The law provides for the establishment of special arbitral councils, at the average of one council for each educational region.

 
Competence
 

• The Arbitral Council examines the violations of the provisions of the law of the freezing of school tuitions from the non-gratis private schools, and in the litigations arising from its application, at the exception of the forgery in statements which remains of the competence of the penal ordinary courts.            
•  In addition to the minister of national education and the parents committees, any person who is damaged may bring his case before the competent arbitral council.
•  The judgments pronounced by the arbitral council cannot be subject to any means of revision, but the objection.

Arbitral Insurance Council

Formation
 

• The law pertaining to organize the insurance bodies provides for the establishment of one or more Arbitral Insurance Council, when necessary, in the Ministry of Economy and Trade.
• The mentioned law stipulates as well that the Arbitral Insurance Council is composed of two panels :
  • A first panel: Competent to examine the disputes arising from the insurance contracts of cars, vehicles and traffic accidents, and consisted of a retired judge or a judge of the eleventh degree or above (which is equal to the sixth degree and above per the last amendments of the judicial judiciary law), as a president, and of an expert specialized in insurance and an expert in traffic affairs and its accidents, as two members.
  • A second panel: Competent to examine the disputes arising from the medical and hospitalization contracts, and consisted of a retired judge or a judge of the eleventh degree or above (which is equal to the sixth degree and above per the last amendments of the judicial judiciary law), as a president, and of an expert specialized in insurance and a physician, as two members.      
  • A Government Commissioner is appointed in the Arbitral Insurance Council, and he does present his report in each case and attends the trial sessions.

Competence
 

• The Arbitral Insurance Council has competence to examine the disputes related to the financial claims resulting form the medical and hospitalization insurance contracts, and from the cars, vehicles and traffic accidents insurance contracts, which fulfill the following two conditions :
  • That the value of the claim is less than 75 million Lebanese pounds.
  • That the claimant has not already filed a lawsuit in the same case before the judicial judiciary.
• Is considered as null any text, in the insurance contracts, that leads to exclude the competence of the Arbitral Insurance Council.
• The judgments pronounced by the Arbitral Insurance Council may only be subject to objection, objection of third party and cassation among the means of revision.

Disputes Judicial Committee

Formation
 
The law pertaining to the modification of the housing law provides for the establishment of a committee that has a judicial quality to examine the disputes resulting from the application of the housing law and it is composed of: A judge, as a president, and two members among the employees of the second category at least of the general directorate of housing. The committee is appointed by virtue of a decree.
 
Competence

• The mentioned committee examines all the disputes resulting from the application of the housing law in terms of :
  • The right of the seller to request the cancellation of the contract of the habitation’s sale, and to recuperate the habitation from its occupant and to resell it at the responsibility and the account of the abstaining purchaser, provided that the final accounting with him would be done after the accomplishment of the sale operation and that in case the buyer fails to abide by one of the clauses of the contract or one of the obligations imposed on him by the law.
  • The right of the lessor in requesting to recuperate the house from its occupant and that in case the lessee fails to abide by one of the clauses of the lease contract or one of the obligations imposed on him by the law.
  • Provided that the exceptions stated in the housing loans are respected.
• The recuperation judgment pronounced by the committee is considered as final and urgent, and cannot be subject to any means of revision, and has a an executive force, then the concerned party may request to execute the judgment immediately through the execution department which the habitation falls within its jurisdiction.     

Disputes Settlement Committee

Formation

• The law provides for the establishment of a committee or more to examine the disputes provided for in the law of consumer protection.
• The committee is composed of a Judge of honor or a judge of the fourth degree and above, as a president, and of two members, one of them representing the chamber of commerce, industry and agriculture, and the other representing the consumer protection associations. The president and the two members are appointed by virtue of decrees.

 
Competence

• The Disputes Settlement Committee examines the litigations in the disputes arising between a consumer or a professional or a manufacturer and that result from the application or the interpretation of the provisions of the consumer protection law, of which the value exceeds three million Lebanese pounds, or the disputes of which the value does not exceed the mentioned sum in case the mediation has failed in finding a total or partial solution.
• The penal prosecutions remain under the jurisdiction of the ordinary Penal Courts.
• The decisions of the committee are not subject to the means of revision, excepted for the objection, the objection of third party, the rectification of a financial mistake and the appeal before the Civil Court of Appeals.
• The decisions of the committee are executed through the competent department of execution.   

Appropriation Committees

Formation

• The appropriation law provides for the need to appoint for each province, per a decree and upon the suggestion of the competent ministers:
  • The primary appropriation committee: one or more, composed of a judge of the tenth degree and above (which is equal to the seventh degree and above, per the last amendments to the judicial judiciary law), or what is equivalent, as a president, and of two members, one of them an engineer chosen among the employees of public institutions or municipalities or public establishments, and the other an appraisal expert.
  • The appeal appropriation committee: one or more, composed of judge of the sixth level and above (which is equal to the eleventh degree and above per the last amendments to the judicial judiciary law) or what is equivalent, as a president, and of two members, one of them an engineer chosen among the employees of public institutions or municipalities or public establishments, and the other an engineer expert in real estate affairs and appraisal.
• A president and two supplemental members are appointed for each of the primary and appeal committees.
• The administration is represented before the primary and appeal committees per a third category employee who holds at least a bachelor’s degree at law or civil engineering.
• The State administrations may require the assistance of the Cases Committee in the Ministry of Justice for the high-profile cases of which the settlement may lead to a legal litigation, and these administrations are represented by the head of the Cases committee or by whomever represent him among the judges or employees or attorneys appointed in the committee.

 
Competence
 

• The following falls within the jurisdiction of the appropriation committees:
  • To determine the amount of the compensation due to of the appropriation.
  • To settle the full appropriation requests as provided for in the articles 27 and 28 of the appropriation law.
  • To determine the price of the remainders mentioned in the article 40 of the appropriation law.
  • To determine the value of the improvement, in preparation for imposing a tax on it.
  • To settle the dispute in case a serious disagreement exists between the owners or between them and the holders of rights or between the holders of rights themselves concerning these rights or the rights on the real estate property. The committee estimates the amount of the compensation and decides to stop paying it until the end of the dispute through the agreement of the parties or through a final judgment pronounced by the competent court.                      
  • To settle the disputes regarding the application of the concept of real estate unity and regarding the amounts of the consecutive appropriations that targeted the real estate property.
  • All what is provided for in a special text in the appropriation law or other.
• The decisions of the primary committee may be contested through appeal within the delays and according to the procedures provided for in the law of civil procedures.
• In case a financial mistake occurs in the final decisions of the appropriation committees, or in case there is a confusion in interpreting these decisions, or if it appears that the decision involved an area of a real estate that was previously appropriated, or in case the decisions included an error in determining the area or an error in the contents of the area required to be appropriated or an error in the names of the holders of the rights, then any of the parties has the right to request a correction or interpretation per a motion presented to the committee that has issued the decision.
• The decisions of the appeal appropriation committee is not subject to the means of revision, but objection and objection of third party and retrial, and that within the delays and for the reasons and according to the procedures provided for in the civil procedure law.        

 
The owners and the holders of rights may challenge the decisions of the appeal appropriation committee before the State Council if it rendered a judgment to reduce the amount of the compensation which was passed first more than 25%, and the appropriating committee may contest the mentioned decisions if the appeal appropriation committees decided to increase the value of the compensation more than 50%.