LEBANON Law and Practice Contributed by: Nayla Comair-Obeid, Ziad Obeid and Zeina Obeid, Obeid & Partners
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 damage occurred (Article 102). Specific jurisdictional criteria in the LCCP is as follows. 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 acci- dent 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 insur- ance 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 in accordance with Article 9 of the Lebanese Criminal Procedure Code. 3.4 Initial Complaint Proceedings in civil and commercial matters are initiated by filing a submission with the clerk of the relevant court.
The plaintiff must have the legal standing (locus standi) 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 information (Article 445 of the LCCP): • the name of the court before which the com- plaint is filed; • the names, professions and residences of the plaintiff and defendant, along with the names of their representatives, if any. For legal enti- ties, the form, name, address, place of busi- ness, authorised signatory(ies), and attorney should be provided; • the facts, legal grounds, evidence and relief sought; • the date of the complaint; • the plaintiff’s signature or the signature of its legal representative. A copy of the power of attorney must be attached; and • the exhibits enclosed with the complaint. Pursuant to Article 365 of the LCCP, the subject matter of the dispute is set out in the parties’ requests for relief as outlined in the initial and subsequent submissions. The plaintiff may file incidental requests to cor- rect, complete, or amend the initial complaint pursuant to Article 31 of the LCCP. In the same context, Article 32 of the LCCP grants the defendant the right to file incidental claims, such as set-off requests or claims for damages incurred as a result of the trial. In this respect, it is important to note that the above-mentioned incidental claims should sat- isfy the requirements of Article 30 of the LCCP. Specifically, incidental claims must correlate with the initial claims set out in the initial complaint,
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