Collective Action

More than half the country’s judges joined a strike protesting their working conditions, more than two weeks after a Banque du Liban-mandated revision to their salaries was suspended. “Several warnings that the deterioration of working conditions has surpassed its limits were issued,” the protesting magistrates said in a statement yesterday evening, according to the state-run National News Agency. The judges decried the lack of judicial independence and “dark and desolate courts.” Some 350 judges agreed to go on strike after the central bank last month walked back an enigmatic decision to pay their salaries at the LL8,000 exchange rate just weeks after announcing it.

A representative of the state-run National News Agency on Wednesday reported that out of a total of 560 magistrates, 350 stopped working on Tuesday in protest of how their salaries are no longer offered at the LL8,000 conversion rate. The adjustment of their salaries from the LL1,507 rate to the LL8,000 rate was initially reported in early July before being revoked on July 28.

According to several sources interviewed by L’Orient-Le Jour, the payment of judges' salaries at the LL8,000 rate was due to lobbying by members of the judiciary. The treasury department of Banque du Liban had called an executive at the bank to announce a new method of paying judges’ salaries that would involve the salaries in lira being transferred by the Mutual Fund of the Judiciary to be converted into “lollars” at the bank, which can then be withdrawn at the LL8,000 rate. Thus, a judge who previously made LL4,100,000, would under the scheme make LL22 million instead.

The central bank’s measure however immediately drew controversy for only pertaining to judges and not to all civil servants.

The monthly salary a judge receives is presently worth between $150 and $350, depending on the judge’s rank, when converted from Lebanese lira to dollars at the current parallel market exchange rate.

There is still a lot of confusion surrounding how the initial decision to enable judges to be paid at the LL8,000 rate came about, particularly related to its financing, the role of the central bank and the legal framework for it.

According to the NNA, among the judges who decided to suspend their work completely are Public Prosecutor at the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal Ghada Aoun, Mount Lebanon investigating judge Nicolas Mansour, and the first investigating judge of North Lebanon, Samaranda Nassar. One of the members of the Higher Judicial Council, Judge Dany Chebli, is also among the strikers. Other judges from the Supreme Council and the Court of Auditors have also joined the strike.

Judges have decided to continue their now weeklong strike protesting low pay and deteriorating living conditions, following a meeting on Tuesday of the General Assembly of Judges at Beirut’s Court of Cassation, the state-run National News Agency reported. The judges on Tuesday discussed the difficult living, social and health conditions they now suffer due to their low wages, especially after the central bank last month walked back a decision to pay their salaries at the LL8,000 exchange rate just weeks after announcing the measure. During the meeting, judges stated that communication efforts with officials about the issue had not been fruitful. Attendees of the meeting reportedly decided unanimously to continue their strike.