According to "Nidaa Al-Watan," the Chief Appellate Judge in Beirut, Judge Habib Rizkallah, has issued a decision to fill vacancies in the investigation departments in Beirut following the retirement of Judges George Rizk and Charbel Abou Samra, and the appointment of Judge Rita Ghantous as the head of the Higher Disciplinary Council. Consequently, there are three vacant judicial positions in the investigation departments. In response, Rizkallah issued his decision, assigning two judges to the department previously overseen by Judge Charbel Abou Samra instead of one.
The decision includes the following assignments:
- Judge Rola Sfeir will oversee the files of the investigation section of Judge Rita Ghantous due to the vacancy, effective from 01/01/2024, until further notice.
- Judge Rozin Hajjili will handle the files of the investigation section of Judge George Ghantous due to the vacancy, effective from 01/01/2024, until further notice.
- Judge Nadia Jadail will take charge of the files of the investigation section of Judge Charbel Abou Samra due to the vacancy, effective from 01/01/2024, until further notice.
- Judge Kabi Shaheen will handle the investigation files of the section of Judge Charbel Abou Samra due to the vacancy, effective from 01/01/2024, until further notice.
Judicial sources reported that these appointments aim to get the investigation departments in Beirut back on track, especially since Judge George Rizk reached retirement age a while ago, leaving the department vacant since then, and Judge Charbel Abou Samra has recently reached retirement age. Moreover, all files related to Judge Rita Ghantous were distributed among several judges. The sources mentioned that there were no issues regarding these appointments, which restored the sectarian balance after the Beirut department had no Christian judges except for Judge Fouad Murad.
Additionally, an official decree was published in the official gazette terminating the service of judges in the Judicial Authority due to reaching legal retirement age. The judges included are: Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation Judge Ghassan Oueidat, President of the Third Chamber at the South Lebanon Court of Appeals and temporarily appointed as President of the Eighth Chamber at the Court of Cassation Judge Majed Hasan Mazahim, Counselor in the Ninth Chamber at the Beirut Court of Appeals Judge Jumana Kheirallah, and Counselor in the Fifth Chamber at the Court of Cassation Youssef Hasan Yassine.
