LEBANON Law and Practice Contributed by: Nayla Comair-Obeid, Ziad Obeid and Zeina Obeid, Obeid & Partners
as the nationalities of the parties involved or the location of the disputed interests. • Functional jurisdiction (Articles 81-82 of the LCCP) – determines the allocation of cases among judicial bodies, designating the competent court as civil, administrative or religious. • Subject-matter jurisdiction, or ratione materiae jurisdiction (Articles 83-95 of the LCCP) – deter- mines the competent court based on the nature of the dispute. This jurisdiction establishes not only the appropriate level of court – whether first instance, appellate or the Court of Cassation – but also, in certain cases specified by law, the spe- cialised courts designated to hear specific types of disputes. These specialised courts may, for example, adjudicate matters relating to summary proceedings, labour and other specific categories of disputes. • Territorial jurisdiction (Articles 96-113 of the LCCP) – governs the distribution of cases among courts of the same type and level, identifying which spe- cific court is competent to hear a dispute based on the geographic location of the subject matter or the parties involved. Territorial jurisdiction can be either ordinary, which is relative and allows flexibility in determining the competent court, or exceptional, in which case it becomes mandatory. Typically, the competent court is determined by the defendant’s domicile, as specified in Article 97 of the LCCP. However, territorial jurisdiction may vary based on the nature of the dispute, as provided in the sub- sequent provisions of the LCCP. • Real estate disputes – the competent court is located where the property is situated (Article 98). • Civil or commercial contracts – jurisdiction is granted to the court where: (a) the effective domicile of the defendant is located; (b) the defendant has chosen a domicile; (c) the contract was concluded, and one of its principal obligations was to be performed; or (d) the contract was entirely performed (Article 100). • Legal entities – for disputes involving legal enti- ties, the competent court is where the legal entity’s head office is located. If a branch of the legal entity
is involved, the court where the branch is located has jurisdiction (Article 101). • Torts or quasi-torts – jurisdiction is granted to the court of the defendant’s domicile or the court within whose jurisdiction the harmful act or dam- age occurred (Article 102). Specific jurisdictional criteria in the LCCP are as fol- lows. Mandatory territorial jurisdiction as provided in the LCCP includes: • bankruptcy – claims arising from bankruptcy issues fall under the competence of the court that declared the bankruptcy (Article 108); • life insurance – claims related to life insurance are under the jurisdiction of the court where the insured party resides (Article 109); • accident insurance – claims related to accident insurance fall under the jurisdiction of the court where the accident occurred or where the insured party resides (Article 110); • fire insurance – claims related to fire insurance are handled by the court where the fire incident occurred (Article 111); and • special courts – claims that the law explicitly requires to be filed before a specific court must be filed exclusively in that court (Article 112 of the LCCP). In criminal matters, the action must be filed before the court where the crime occurred, where the defendant resides, or where the defendant was arrested pursu- ant to Article 9 of the Lebanese Criminal Procedure Code. 3.4 Initial Complaint Proceedings in civil and commercial matters are initi- ated by filing a submission with the clerk of the rel- evant court. The plaintiff must have the legal standing (locus stan- di) to file the claim (Article 9 of the LCCP) and the initial complaint must be filed before the competent court. The initial complaint should include the following infor- mation (Article 445 of the LCCP):
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