Lawyers stop working due to delay in appointing Higher Judicial Council chairman

More than a year has passed and the post of Chairman of the Higher Judicial Council is still vacant awaiting a long-anticipated political decision.    

Lawyers had had enough with this situation and stopped working on Monday, boycotting hearings while judges only conducted administrative procedures.     

This paralysis in judicial appointments stems from initiatives aimed at reducing political influence over the judiciary, but the mechanisms put in place for these initiatives are, themselves, sensitive to the changing political currents.       

Retired Judge Moussa Kallas told LBCI that the executive power represented by the president, the prime minister and the minister of justice is the final arbiters in appointments. He added that the Judicial Council is appointed through a cabinet decision, meaning the executive power practically controls the Judiciary on all levels.       

Kallas described the Higher Judicial Council as the “Council of boredom”, adding that the reform process must start with abolishing confessionalism from the judiciary to put an end to judges’ allegiances to sectarian politicians.