Banks and Clients at the Scale of Law Seminar at Beirut Arab University

The Faculty of Law and Political Science has organized a seminar entitled “Banks and Clients at the Scale of Law” whereby judges and lawyers who participated in this seminar presented their opinions about banking restrictions in Lebanon, their legality, current and past judicial jurisprudence, experiences of attorneys’ pleadings in the cases brought before the judiciary.
The seminar was attended by the President of the University Professor Amr Galal El Adawi, Dr. Ali Ibrahim Financial Prosecutor in Lebanon, Dr. Nayla Komeir Obeid President of the International Royal Institute for Training on Mediation and Arbitration with several lawyers at her office, Dr. Ramez Ammar Dean of Faculty of Political Science at the Islamic University in Lebanon, embassies’ representatives and many legal and economic figures in addition to lawyers attended the seminar.

The Dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science Mohammad Hassan Kassem moderated the Seminar which included legal articles that could be invoked in the cases that companies and individuals filed against banks were discussed in addition to the laws governing them and the principle of force majeure that banks are resorting to so that they don’t pay the rights of depositors in cash.

Participants also discussed the legal facts about payment of deposits, whether they will be checks or in cash as well as the currency in which it is paid and the exchange rate.

President of the court of Appeal in Beirut Judge Dr. Habib Mezher, Dr. Wael Dbeissi Baakline Branch Manager at Bank of Beirut and the Arab Countries and Lawyer of Appeal Mazen Safieh talked in the first session

In the second session Judge Dr. Ghaleb Ghanem, former Speaker of the Advisory Council and the First Chief of the Court of Appeal and the High Judicial Council, submitted a legal reading about the banking restrictions. As well, Judge Dr. Sami Mansour the Honorary Chief of Court of Appeal Lawyer presented Dr. Abdo Ghassoub who expressed his point of view in this regard.


Professor Kassem concluded at the end of the Seminar that according to what aforementioned the banking restrictions are illegal and they shall not form a force majeure or emergency circumstances.