LEBANON Law and Practice Contributed by: Nayla Comair-Obeid, Ziad Obeid and Zeina Obeid, Obeid & Partners
an investigation to complement the parties’ evi- dence (Article 135 of the LCCP). Generally, the types of evidence admissible under Lebanese law include documentary evidence (eg, authen- ticated and private deeds), confessions, testi- monies, investigations, etc, and are specifically Expert testimony is typically permitted at trial. Pursuant to Article 313 of the LCCP, the court may designate an expert to undertake expertise, submit technical advice or undertake a technical investigation for a specific matter. regulated under the LCCP. 7.5 Expert Testimony In addition, depending on the circumstances of the case, a party may submit expert reports/ opinions, which would be treated as documen- tary evidence in the file. Expert examination is set out in detail under Arti- cles 308–362 of the LCCP. 7.6 Extent to Which Hearings Are Open to the Public See 1.3 Court Filings and Proceedings . 7.7 Level of Intervention by a Judge The parties, along with the judge, are responsi- ble for ensuring the proper conduct of the pro- ceedings. Regarding the judge’s intervention, it is impor- tant to note that the judge plays an active role during the hearing by (i) conducting the exami- nation of witnesses and experts, (ii) directing questions to the parties or their legal representa- tives, and alerting them to any issues they may have overlooked, and (iii) ordering investigations to supplement the parties’ evidence.
Generally, after the conclusion of the pleadings, the judge declares the trial closed and sets a date for issuing the judgment within a period not exceeding six weeks. The judge may pronounce the judgment in the session immediately after the conclusion of the pleadings, or it may defer its issuance to a later session. If it becomes necessary to defer the issuance of the judgment – typically when the case requires further consideration and analysis – the judge must announce this in the session, specifying the date on which the judgment will be rendered and providing the reasons for the postponement. 7.8 General Timeframes for Proceedings After an action has been initiated (ie, an initial submission/statement of claim has been filed by the plaintiff), a defendant has 15 days to file their answer submission/statement of defence along with all supporting documents (Article 449 of the LCCP). Following notification of the statement of defence to the plaintiff, the plaintiff has ten days to file a reply submission (Article 452 of the LCCP). Following notification of the reply submission to the defendant, the defendant in turn has ten days to file a rejoinder submission (Article 452 of the LCCP). This would conclude the normal exchange process. Article 453 of the LCCP states that upon the expiration of these time limits, neither party may submit further responses unless they provide an acceptable excuse or reason, in which case the court president or sole judge will set new deadlines. Also, Article 455 of the LCCP allows the court to expedite time limits in urgent cases, provided that the time limit it sets is not less than 24 hours. In other cases, it may extend them upon request if justifiable. Decisions regard-
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