Lebanon: Dispute Rages Between Judges, Justice Minister

File Photo of Lebanese Justice Minister Selim Jreissati/NNA
File Photo of Lebanese Justice Minister Selim Jreissati/NNA
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Lebanon: Dispute Rages Between Judges, Justice Minister

File Photo of Lebanese Justice Minister Selim Jreissati/NNA
File Photo of Lebanese Justice Minister Selim Jreissati/NNA

A dispute between Lebanon’s judiciary and Justice Minister Selim Jreissati reached unprecedented levels after a number of judges began a walkout this week to protest a possible reduction in salaries and benefits.

The differences between the judges and Jreissati worsened when the minister sent a memo asking the Judicial Council to warn judges from the repercussions of their decision.

“The decision of some judges to interrupt their works holds several meanings, mainly the disruption of relations between the Lebanese Judiciary and the Higher Judicial Council,” Jreissati wrote in his letter.

His position drove a quick response from the Council, which announced that a Justice Minister does not have the right to send memos to Judges.

A copy of the Council’s statement received by Asharq Al-Awsat said: “Based on the sovereignty of the judicial authority, the higher Judicial Council is not considered an executive body of the Justice Minister’s decisions.”

The statement added that currently, judges feel threatened, not only at the financial level, but also at the level of their personal pride.

Judicial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday that the minister did not have the authority to dominate the judiciary in Lebanon.

“The minister’s last memo to the Higher Judicial Council enraged judges,” the sources said, adding that the problem is not between the Council and judges, but between the Judiciary and the political authority.

“We absolutely reject that a Justice Minister addresses the judicial authority by giving orders and recommendations,” the sources said.

Last Monday, Lebanon's judges held a two-day strike in protest of a decision to decrease the budget of the Justice Ministry and therefore, limit their benefits and dry out sources of the solidarity fund, which provides judges a benefit of less than one month’s salary every three months, in addition to family medical and education benefits.



Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)

Scores of US-backed Kurdish fighters left two neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo Friday as part of a deal with the central government in Damascus, which is expanding its authority in the country.

The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh, which had been under the control of Kurdish fighters in Aleppo over the past decade.

The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast. The deal could eventually lead to the merger of the main US-backed force in Syria into the Syrian army.

The withdrawal of fighters from the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came a day after dozens of prisoners from both sides were freed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces were deployed along the road that SDF fighters will use to move between Aleppo and areas east of the Euphrates River, where the Kurdish-led force controls nearly a quarter of Syria.

Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh had been under SDF control since 2015 and remained so even when forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad captured Aleppo in late 2016. The two neighborhoods remained under SDF control when forces loyal to current interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured the city in November, and days later captured the capital, Damascus, removing Assad from power.

After being marginalized for decades under the rule of the Assad family rule, the deal signed last month promises Syria’s Kurds “constitutional rights,” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.

Kurds made up 10% of the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Kurdish leaders say they don’t want full autonomy with their own government and parliament. They want decentralization and room to run their day-to day-affairs.