Miqati Approves Decree to Appoint 5 HJC Members, Refers it to Suleiman
Prime Minister Najib Miqati inked a decree to appoint five judges to the Higher Judicial Council as the tenure of the current members ended on June 5, An Nahar newspaper reported on Tuesday.
According to the daily, the premier referred the decree to President Michel Suleiman.
Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi signed the decree last week ahead of the end of the HJC tenure.
In May, members of Lebanon’s Court of Cassation elected two judges to the HJC which is the subject of a controversy since its head Judge Ghaleb Ghanem retired in January last year.
Judges Antoine Daher and Suhair Harakeh were elected out of four candidates who ran for the posts.
The HJC is formed of 10 members in which the head of the council, the General Prosecutor and the head of the Judicial Inspection Board are appointed by a decree issued by the cabinet.
However, sharp differences between Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun have prevented the cabinet from making the appointment of the head of the HJC as it also failed to make an appointment to the top post given the lack of consensus.
Two of the remaining seven are chosen by the members of the Court of Cassation, and the remaining five are appointed by the justice minister and approved by the president without necessarily consulting the government.
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