LEBANON Law and Practice Contributed by: Nayla Comair-Obeid, Ziad Obeid and Zeina Obeid, Obeid & Partners
sional duties, such as the purchase and sale of real estate, management of clients’ movable and immovable assets, and management of bank and securities accounts. 5.6 Rules Disallowing Disclosure of a Document There are no particular rules in the LCCP with respect to disallowing disclosure of a document. Depending on the nature of the documents, they may be subject to specific rules or regulations, such as banking secrecy laws, professional reg- ulations, privacy protection, etc. 6. Injunctive Relief 6.1 Circumstances of Injunctive Relief As mentioned in 4.1 Interim Applications/ Motions , the trial judge and the judge of sum- mary proceedings can order provisional and protective measures that necessitate relief to be granted as a matter of urgency, in order to protect rights. Additionally, a creditor may request the president of the Enforcement Bureau to order a provisional seizure on the debtor’s assets, as security for its rights, provided that the creditor’s rights are due and are not contingent upon a future event. In some circumstances, such a provisional sei- zure may be available ex parte on the basis of a probability of success in a main action on the merits (see 6.3 Availability of Injunctive Relief on an Ex Parte Basis ). It is worth noting that the amended law on Lebanese banking secrecy (Law No 1/1956 as amended by Law No 306/2022) provides that funds held at banks operating in Lebanon may be frozen by a decision from the Special Inves-
tigation Commission as per the Lebanese Anti- Money Laundering Law, and contains language to the effect that such funds may be seized by a decision of the competent courts in other cir- cumstances listed in that law, such as in the event of corruption and financial offences listed in the Lebanese Penal Code. Also, Lebanese law does not provide for injunc- tions to prevent parallel proceedings in a juris- diction abroad (ie, anti-suit injunction). 6.2 Arrangements for Obtaining Urgent Injunctive Relief The LCCP does not provide a particular time- frame in which the judge must issue urgent injunctive relief. However, it does provide that the judge should render their decision without delay (Article 583 of the LCCP). In addition, when the circumstances so require, the judge may decide to hear the parties outside of court hours and during public holidays (Article 582 of the LCCP). 6.3 Availability of Injunctive Relief on an Ex Parte Basis Injunctive relief can be obtained on an ex par- te basis pursuant to Article 593 of the LCCP onwards. 6.4 Liability for Damages for the Applicant The applicant may be held liable for damages suffered by the respondent if the former abused their right in bringing a lawsuit (Articles 10 and 551 of the LCCP). As such, the applicant may be subject to a penalty, ranging from LBP2 million to LBP100 million (Article 11 of the LCCP).
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