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Lebanon : EU supports efforts for more efficient justice system

03-02-2012

The Institute of Law Studies in Lebanon last week concluded its training sessions for actors involved in the judicial field within the Ministry of Justice, with an event attended by the Minister of Justice Chakib Cortbawi, the Chief of the Cooperation Section at the Delegation of Lebanon to the EU Diego Escalona, and Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst, Head of the EU Delegation, in addition to other representatives from the justice field in Lebanon.
 
Highlighting the EU’s continuous involvement for the support of a fair and impartial judiciary in the country, Diego Escalona, said: "In the coming years, the European Union will continue to support an independent judiciary in Lebanon, given its importance in guaranteeing fair and equitable trials to all citizens. This will, in turn, enhance the confidence of the citizens in their institutions."
 
Training took place within the framework of the project ‘Enhancing the capacities of the Ministry of Justice – Supporting the legal profession’, funded by the EU with an amount of €2.7 million. The project, implemented by ACOJURIS, the Agency in charge of international judicial cooperation, aims at reinforcing the capacity of the Ministry of Justice with a view to ensuring the efficiency and the proper functioning of the judicial system in Lebanon by supporting the professionalization of all judiciary actors. The total number of people trained reached 3,371, including magistrates and lawyers, a number which largely exceeds the 2,625 which was initially expected.
 
Training sessions were jointly conducted by law practitioners from EU member states and Lebanon, enabling participants to benefit from the practical aspect of the training. They mainly targeted judicial assistants, clerks, notaries public, judicial experts and coroners, and covered key thematic areas for each category including civil and criminal proceedings, law and taxation, as well as the drafting of legal documents and expertise reports. These training sessions served as an opportunity to select for each category 53 trainers who will be able to transmit their knowledge and thereby ensure the continuity of the project. 
 
In order to facilitate the access of different categories of clerks to basic judicial texts, the EU has also funded the preparation of 800 binders including the main codes, such as the civil and criminal procedure codes, in addition to the law and taxation code. These binders will be useful to trainers of all categories of judicial actors.
 
Underscoring the importance of this project, the Minister of Justice Chakib Cortbawi, said: "This project reflects the successful cooperation between the EU and Lebanon, by working towards an enhanced professionalization of judicial staff, a key component of an independent, transparent, and efficient judicial system," adding that "the EU’s commitment will play, more than ever, a decisive role in this process."(ENPI Info Centre)
 
Read more
 
Press release(FR)
 
EU Delegation – Lebanon
 
ENPI Info Centre - Focus on EU-Lebanon relations as EU ambassadors meet Prime Minister
 
ENPI Info Centre - EU Delegation to Lebanon hosts public debate on death penalty


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