Around 380 judges will be involved in the strike in the coming days, representing all departments: prosecutors, investigations, members of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, the Military Court and the Court of Accounts, local media reported.
The suspension of functions responds to the deepening crisis in the sector with political interference in court records and an attempt to undermine investigations, endanger dignity and hamper work, the website Asharq Al-Awsat reflected.
The Al-Binaa newspaper listed that the country’s judges are facing darkness in courthouses due to power outages, water shortages, sanitation, stationery and tools for daily work, forcing them to purchase these out of pocket to operate courts .
The call for a strike was supported by the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Suhail Abboud, who respected the position of his colleagues and felt the calls for the tragic conditions and circumstances suffered by the body at all levels were justified.
The strike and the suspension of the judiciary require swift action to address the impact on the sector, which is seriously damaging the interests of the pending court cases, Abboud stressed.
As of yesterday, there had been no negotiations with the political authority, according to the judges, who pointed out that the upper limit of the demands was a living wage and a transportation bonus for commuting to work, the publication Al-Akhbar reported.
This judges’ strike comes days after the gradual return of civil servants in the country after more than a month of indefinite unemployment over similar demands.
A monthly minimum wage of less than $25, inflation at 890 percent and some 2.2 million people in need of food are examples of Lebanon’s economic collapse, according to reports from specialized United Nations agencies.
jf/yma