LEBANON Law and Practice Contributed by: Nayla Comair-Obeid, Ziad Obeid and Zeina Obeid, Obeid & Partners
claims similar to those brought by one of the parties, or for warranty purposes. As to the procedure, a third party is joined or is involved in the proceedings on the submission of a reasoned request before the court. This request is then noti- fied to the interested third party. The intervening party, or the party to be joined, must have a personal and legitimate legal interest in the action (Article 40 of the LCCP). The intervention or joinder is permitted at any time during the proceedings up until its conclusion. It is allowed before the court of first instance and the court of appeal. The court shall rule on such requests and determine whether to authorise the third party to join the lawsuit. It is also possible for the court, at its own initiative, to order the joinder of a third party to the proceedings if it deems that this joinder would facilitate the resolu- tion of the matter, help reveal the truth, or protect the rights of the parties or one of them, or the rights of the person to be joined. In this context, the court clerk must notify the third party of the joinder decision. The court may require each party to notify the third party with their documents and set a deadline for the third party to respond. However, the failure to join a particular party does not preclude a litigant third party from bringing the same or similar claims against that party. 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs This is not applicable in this jurisdiction. 4.6 Costs of Interim Applications/Motions The judge may grant the interim application in con- sideration of a guarantee. The LCCP does not provide further details as to the costs. In practice, the costs are subject to the court’s discretion. In general, the losing party incurs the costs of the proceedings only in relation to judicial costs. The court will generally not rule on attorney fees. 4.7 Application/Motion Timeframe The LCCP does not explicitly provide a timeframe for a court to deal with an interim application. How- ever, Article 583 of the LCCP states that the judge of
summary proceedings, who is competent to look into applications, shall render the decision without delay. Pursuant to Article 455 of the LCCP, the court may shorten the deadlines for the exchange of submis- sions in cases that require urgency.
5. Discovery 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases
The Lebanese law does not provide for a concept equivalent to that of discovery in common law coun- tries. Each party shall submit, at once, all the evidence that they rely upon for each claim. The court may, on its own initiative, order any investi- gation to supplement the evidence submitted by the parties. Additionally, refer to 5.4 Alternatives to Discovery Mechanisms . 5.2 Discovery and Third Parties As mentioned in 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases , dis - covery is not covered by Lebanese law. However, the LCCP provides for the possibility to obtain evidence from third parties. During the proceedings, the court may intervene and order a person in the trial compel- ling them to submit a document in their possession. The court may also, on its own initiative or upon the parties’ request, order the retrieval of documents from official departments, if the parties are unable to obtain them. 5.3 Discovery in This Jurisdiction This is not applicable in this jurisdiction (see 5.1 Dis- covery and Civil Cases ). 5.4 Alternatives to Discovery Mechanisms According to Article 203 of the LCCP, a party may request the opponent to produce any document essential for the outcome of the dispute, provided that: • the law allows the above party to request such document production or deliverance; • the document is common between the requesting party and the opponent (the document is consid-
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