The ministers of justice and interior during their press conference at the rehabilitated Roumieh courthouse on April 21, 2025. (Credit: NNA)
The Justice Ministry announced Friday that the courtroom at Roumieh prison, the largest and most overcrowded in the country, would resume its activities on June 3, with several measures taken to ensure its proper functioning.
The Ministers of the Interior and Justice, Ahmad Hajjar and Adel Nassar, inaugurated this courtroom on May 21. Nassar said at the time that when this court was operational, it allowed magistrates to issue 583 judgments in 10 months, including 128 releases.
In a statement on Friday, the Justice Ministry announced having "taken, in coordination with the Interior Ministry, a series of measures to facilitate the presence of lawyers in the courtroom and allow them to practice their profession while ensuring their dignity, defense rights, and a fair trial."
Among the main measures announced: lawyers will not be subjected to body searches upon entering the courtroom, adequate transportation will be provided to take them from the parking lot to the courtroom, and seats will be reserved for them inside. Additionally, a landline will be activated to facilitate coordination between the bar association and the prison administration. A clear procedure will be in place to provide in advance to the prison administration the list of lawyers present, as well as a preliminary list including the names of witnesses, civil parties, accused, and non-detained defendants, which will be communicated to the warden of Roumieh prison at least one day before the hearing.
The schedule of hearings will be prepared at least three days in advance and posted in the Baabda court hall for the attention of the concerned lawyers and the bar association representative at the courthouse. The entry of detainees' relatives into the courtroom will be based on pre-issued authorizations.
The Roumieh court was created under the mandate of former Ministers of Justice and the Interior, Shaqib Qortbawi and Marwan Sharbel, five years after the arrest of about 115 Islamists following the Nahr al-Bared clashes between the army and Islamists in 2007. The building was constructed to address issues related to transport to the courthouse, and its rehabilitation work began in April.