Lawyers to Go on Strike Monday over HJC Row

The heads of the Beirut and Tripoli Bar Associations announced that lawyers would hold a one-day strike on Monday to protest the failure to appoint a new head for the Higher Judicial Council.

Nuhad Jabr and Bassam al-Dayeh said Wednesday that lawyers will suspend their work as “a first step that would be followed by more escalatory measures if the cabinet does not appoint” the HJC’s head.

The appointment has been delayed over a dispute between President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun on who should head the Council.

The post has been vacant for over a year following the retirement of Judge Ghaleb Ghanem.

Jabr and al-Dayeh said earlier this month that people would lose confidence in the judiciary if action was not taken to resolve the crisis.

They also said politicians should preserve the image of the judiciary.