A Lebanese Justice Palace. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Lebanon's auxiliary employees announced Friday they will go on strike starting Monday, saying they would only attend hearings of detainees, the state-run National News Agency reports. They demand better working conditions in a country mired in an economic crisis, whose currency has lost more than 97 percent of its value.
In a statement, the court employees stated that they are "the only [public sector workers] who have never stopped working in recent months," while public sector teachers, for example, have been on strike for more than a month. "In view of the tragic situation we are facing, with the rise in prices and the soaring dollar ... Lebanon's court officers have decided to stop following the hearings, except for those devoted to detainees, as of Monday, February 13, 2023," the text states.
"It will be up to the clerk of each court and its associates to manage attendance and rotation" of staff, the statement continued, adding that the committee of court officers will hold open meetings to monitor the situation.
Last week, a source from the Judges' Association told L'Orient-Le Jour that the judges should resume their activities gradually, having observing a strike since mid-August 2022 to demand salary adjustments. Their decision comes after a December 28 general assembly, which resulted in promises of new financial aid from the judges' mutual fund, endorsed by the Ministry of Finance, which, after months of paralysis in Lebanon's judicial system, finally pushed the judges to suspend their job action.