The Minister of Justice determines, upon need, and after consulting the Supreme Council of Justice, the number of trainee judges to be appointed. He asks the Supreme Council of Justice to organize a competition for this purpose.
The Supreme Council of Justice organizes an admission competition for the Institute of Judicial Studies, by determining its topics and the average of passing degrees. It also designates, at the beginning of the competition, a board of examiners, among the judges chosen for this purpose.
Every candidate shall meet the following requirements to participate in the competition:
* To be Lebanese since at least ten years.
* To enjoy all his civil rights and not to be condemned for any “dishonorable” felony or misdemeanor.
* To be sound of diseases and incapacities that may prevent him from fulfilling his functions.
* To be holder of a (Lebanese) bachelor’s degree at Law
* To have good command of Arabic language and one of the two foreign languages: French or English.
* To be less than thirty five years old at the date of the beginning of the written examinations.
The Supreme Council of Justice studies the applications and designates the accepted candidates to participate in the competition and it has, where needed, the right to convoke any of them to a prior interview.
The board of examiners declares the results of the competition and notifies it immediately to the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Council of Justice and the Board of Directors.
The succeeded candidates are appointed as trainee judges by virtue of a decree to be issued upon suggestion of the Minister of Justice and after the approval of the Supreme Council of Justice, and they join the Institute of Judicial Studies for three years during which they earn the salaries of the trainee judges. And in case the trainee judge is one of the officers, he will be transferred from his personnel to that of the judiciary with the same salary that he used to earn if it is higher than the salary of the trainee judge. And he benefits from the promotion designed for the trainee judges as of the date of joining the institute.
The trainee judges can be appointed, without any competition, among those holding the PHD Doctorate Diploma of the State at Law, and that in virtue of a decree to be issued upon the suggestion of the Minister of Justice and after the approval of the Supreme Council of Justice.
The trainee judges take the oath after their appointment and before starting their functions before the Court of Appeals in Beirut as the following: “I swear in the name of God that I will preserve the confidentiality of the deliberation and that I will act in all my works as an honest trainee judge”.
Having taken the above mentioned oath, the trainee judges join the Institute of Judicial Studies which prepares them to handle the judicial function.

Training in the Institute of Judicial Studies
The judicial formation treats theoretical and practical studies in the field of legal sciences as well as the useful sciences for the formation of the necessary culture for the rehabilitation of the judge on intellectual and moral levels. It also deals with the training in the different judicial departments where the judge participates in the deliberation and is supposed to respect its confidentiality.
The trainee judge is promoted one degree by the expiry of every judicial year, and the results of his functions are recorded in his personal file stored in the secretariat of the institute. And by the end of the training period, the board of directors of the institute sets a list of graduates and submits it with its recommendations to the Supreme Council of Justice who declares the competence or the incompetence of the trainee judge to hold the title of incumbent judge.
The decision of the Council of Justice declaring the incompetence ends the service of the trainee judge with no need of any other administrative work. This council is entitled to declare the incompetence status by the end of every academic year upon suggestion of the board of directors of the institute.
The trainee judges are subject to the disciplinary regulations and the code of criminal procedure applied to the incumbent judges.

Administration of the Institute of Judicial Studies
A judge whose degree is of the seventh degree and above chairs the Institute, and supervises its activities. He is delegated for this position by a decree issued upon the suggestion of the Ministry of Justice after the approval of the Supreme Council of Justice.
The studies in the Institute are run by a judge of the tenth degree and above, who is delegated for this function by a decree issued upon the suggestion of the Minister of Justice after the approval of the Supreme Council of Justice.
The Institute comprises a Board of Directors consisted of:
- The President of the Supreme Council of Justice as President
- The Director-General of the Ministry of Justice as Vice-President
- The Head of the Institute as a member
- The Director of the Institute as a member
- Two judges appointed by a decision of the Minister of Justice after the approval of the Supreme Council of Justice for three years renewable only once.
The board of directors sets the curricula, determines the methods of scientific and disciplinary evaluation, organizes the formation sessions, chooses the professors, and contracts with them through the Head of the Institute.
The Head of the Institute takes the necessary decisions for the execution of the resolutions taken by the council, and supervises the work process at the institute. He is the direct president of the public employees working at the institute and he may give any remark to the trainee judges, out of any disciplinary action. In his absence, he is replaced by the Director of the Institute.
As to the statute of the institute, it is issued and amended upon a decision taken by the Minister of Justice after the approval of the board of directors. This statute determines all the topics related to the organization of studies, examinations, trainings, internal discipline and disciplinary procedures.
A section for Public Law is established at the Institute of Judicial Studies. The Minister of Justice determines, upon need, and after consulting the Office of the Council of State, the number of trainee judges intended to be appointed in this section in order to become after graduation assistant consultants before the Council of State.
In all the matters related to the administrative trainee judges, the office of the Council of State replaces the Supreme Council of Justice. And in the board of directors of the institute, the president of the Council of State replaces the president of the Supreme Council of Justice, and two judges of the Council of State replace the two judicial judges appointed as members.
The administrative trainee judges are submitted to the same provisions applied to the judicial trainee judges.
A section for Financial Law is established -as well- at the Institute of the Judicial Studies. The Prime Minister determines after consultation of the Office of the Court of Audit the number of the financial trainee judges intended to be appointed at the above-mentioned section, in order to become after graduation financial judges at the Court of Audit in the last level.
Concerning the financial trainee judges, the Court of Audit replaces the Supreme Council of Justice, and, in the board of directors of the institute, the President of the Court of Audit replaces the President of the Supreme Council of Justice, and two judges of the Court of Audit replace the two judicial judges, and they are appointed by a decision of the president of the Court of Audit after the approval of the Council of this court.
The financial trainee judges are submitted to the provisions applied to the judicial trainee judges.