The Planned Demise of the Third Power

A dark corridor, the smell of dampness emanating from it, a broken or unpowered elevator, dirty stairs, then another dark corridor, strewn with coffee cups whose grounds have splashed the floor, empty water bottles, crushed cigarette butts... There, in an office plunged into darkness, a rickety chair awaits its occupant, who settles in, waiting for the generator to deign to light up the premises. Then there was light, revealing the decrepitude.

This is not the setting of a post-apocalyptic film, but indeed that of the Palace of Justice in the city that the poet Nonnus of Panopolis, in the 5th century, named guarantor of order and mother of laws: Berytus Nutrix Legum.

Two kilometers from a presidential palace maintained with remarkable care (although it has seen more periods of vacancy than occupation in recent decades) stands another Palace of Justice, the nightmare of all jurists: that of Baabda, next to which the capital's palace looks like Versailles.

All modern societies rest on a fundamental pillar: Justice. Order is not the absence of chaos, but the presence of efficient justice, of a true functioning third power.

However, in our country, the first two powers take precedence over the third.

Worse still, they weaken it knowingly, with premeditation.

The proof? The 2026 budget project.

While in some countries, criminals assassinate judges with car bombs or ambushes, in Lebanon, the weapon of crime is economic, legislative, and executive all at once.

The 2026 budget allocates 3.37 million dollars to the judges' mutual fund, which includes nine hundred magistrates, three hundred of whom are retired, compared to 11.235 million for that of the parliamentarians.

For the purchase of equipment and office supplies, 90,000 dollars are earmarked for Justice, compared to 382,000 for the Executive and 203,000 for Parliament. As for maintenance costs, Parliament receives 2.34 million dollars, the Council of Ministers and the Presidency 2.05 million… and Justice, barely 200,000 dollars. There is no error here.

It should be noted that, unlike Parliament, the Council of Ministers, and the Presidential Palace, each of which has only one or two infrastructures, Justice in Lebanon is exercised through six main Palaces and about thirty premises housing courts. It is therefore hardly surprising that the buildings in which justice is supposed to be rendered are in an advanced state of disrepair. Two hundred thousand dollars per year for maintenance: this is the price of a car that some parliamentarians buy for themselves, all the more easily as they benefit, during their mandate, from tax rebates on customs duties.

Judges are nevertheless asked to declare the law and to ensure it is respected, a law often drafted nonchalantly, awkwardly, or even erroneously by deputies, who sometimes blend foreign legislations, a simple «copy/paste» of standards unsuited to our society. And it is then up to the judge to find the balance and the correct application...

The State is not content with depriving judges of coherent legislative means: it also deprives them of financial means. The average salary of a judge is around two thousand dollars, compared to three thousand for a parliamentarian.

But the difference lies elsewhere: in retirement, the judge depends on an anemic mutual fund, unable to cover their essential needs. The deputy, on the other hand, receives between 50% and 75% of their salary for life, benefits from free medical coverage, and upon their death, their spouse inherits these benefits.

A magistrate is first and foremost a human being who, by vocation, performs only one function. Conversely, parliamentarians and ministers generally have a parallel professional activity.

Asking a judge to carry out their mission under such degrading conditions (unhealthy premises, lack of equipment, etc.), not to mention political pressures, and sometimes even personal threats, is simply inhumane.

Themis, goddess of Justice, wears a long white robe, is blindfolded, and holds the scales in her left hand and the sword in her right. The Lebanese Themis is not only blindfolded, but also has her arms tied and her mouth gagged.

In Lebanon, justice is not abolished: it is simply left without light, without budget, and without dignity, until it ceases to exist on its own. This is more discreet, cleaner, and above all, more politically economical. An administrative death sentence, decided and voted by a show of hands by those who, ironically, benefit from judicial immunity...