Ministry of Justice (Lebanon)

Established in 1920, the Ministry of Justice of Lebanon (Arabic: وزارة العدل) is one of the ministries of the Lebanese government. The first incarnation of the ministry was the Department of Justice, Property and Endowments which was headed by the Director of Justice. By 1959, the ministry adopted its current name and its objectives of organizing and administering the judiciary of Lebanon had long been underscored by various decrees. Currently, the Ministry of Justice includes the General Directorate, the Courts of Justice and the Administrative Courts. In turn, the Directorate General of the Ministry of Justice includes the following departments:^[1]

• Legislature and Consultation
• Body Issues
• Institute of Judicial Studies
• Directorate of Judges and Staff Affairs
• Department of the Bureau
• Directorate of Prisons
• The interest of reform juvenile delinquents

Lebanese Republic
Ministry of Justice
وزارة العدل

Emblem of this ministry.
Agency overview
Jurisdiction	Government of Lebanon
Headquarters	Sami Solh Street, Adlieh Area, Beirut
Minister responsible	Adel Nassar
Agency executive	Minister of Justice
Website	www.justice.gov.lb

List of Justice ministers

The following is a list of Lebanese officials who have served as Minister of Justice:^[2]

Minister	Term of office
Charles Dabbas	01 Sep 1920	May 1926
Najib Kabbani	May 1926	May 1927
Choucri Cardahi	May 1927	May 1928
Bechara El Khoury	May 1928	Aug 1928
Najib Sawan	Aug 1928
Choucri Cardahi	Aug 1928	May 1929
Najib Sawan	May 1929	Mar 1930
Ahmed al-Husseiny	Mar 1930	Jul 1931
Auguste Pacha	Jul 1931	May 1932
Sami Al Khoury	May 1932	Jan 1937
Khayreddin al-Ahdab	Jan 1937	Mar 1938
Khaled Chehab	Mar 1938	Nov 1938
Abdallah El-Yafi	Nov 1938	Dec 1941
Philippe Boulos	Dec 1941	Jul 1942
Ahmed al-Husseiny	Jul 1942	Mar 1943
Ayoub Tabet	Mar 1943	Sep 1943
Habib Abu Shahla	Sep 1943	Jan 1945
Salim Habib Takla	Jan 1945
Henri Pharaoun	Jan 1945	22 Aug 1945
Saadi Al Munla	22 Aug 1945	22 May 1946
Ahmed al-Husseiny	22 May 1946	Dec 1946
Abdallah El-Yafi	Dec 1946	Jul 1948
Riad Al Solh	Jul 1948	01 Oct 1949
Charles Helou	01 Oct 1949	14 Feb 1951
Boulos Fayyad[a][b]	14 Feb 1951	07 Jun 1951
Rashid Karami	07 Jun 1951	11 Feb 1952
Fouad Al-Khoury	11 Feb 1952	09 Sep 1952
Basil Trad[a][c]	09 Sep 1952	18 Sep 1952
Khaled Chehab[d]	18 Sep 1952	30 Sep 1952
Mousa Mubarak[e]	30 Sep 1952	30 Apr 1953
Muhieddin Al-Nasali	30 Apr 1953	16 Aug 1953
Bashir Al Awar[e]	16 Aug 1953	01 Mar 1954
Alfred Naqqache[f]	01 Mar 1954	16 Sep 1954
Charles Helou[b]	16 Sep 1954	09 Jul 1955
Gabriel Murr[b]	09 Jul 1955	19 Sep 1955
Fouad Ghosn	19 Sep 1955	19 Mar 1956
Salim Lahoud	19 Mar 1956	08 Jun 1956
Alfred Naqqache	09 Jun 1956	Nov 1956
Sami Solh[g]	Nov 1956	03 Jan 1957
Emile Dawood Tian	03 Jan 1957	18 Aug 1957
Sami Solh	18 Aug 1957	14 Mar 1958
Bashir Al Awar	14 Mar 1958	24 Sep 1958
Yousef Al-Suda[d]	24 Sep 1958	Oct 1958
Hussein Al Oweini	Oct 1958
Philippe Takla[a]	Oct 1958	14 May 1960
Gibran Nahas[h]	14 May 1960	01 Aug 1960
Nasim Majdalani	01 Aug 1960	20 May 1961
Philippe Boulos[a]	20 May 1961	31 Oct 1961
Fouad Boutros	31 Oct 1961	20 Feb 1964
Gibran Nahas	20 Feb 1964	Jul 1965
Emile Dawood Tian	Jul 1965	Nov 1965
Nasim Majdalani	Nov 1965	Apr 1966
Philippe Takla[f]	Apr 1966	06 Dec 1966
Fouad Rizk	06 Dec 1966	08 Feb 1968
Rashid Baydoun[e]	08 Feb 1968	Oct 1968
Majid Arslan	Oct 1968	15 Jan 1969
Shafik Wazzan	15 Jan 1969	25 Nov 1969
Adel Osseiran	25 Nov 1969	13 Oct 1970
Jamil Rachid Kabbi	13 Oct 1970	27 May 1972
Bashir Al Awar	27 May 1972	25 Apr 1973
Kazem al-Khalil[i]	25 Apr 1973	May 1975
Nureddine Rifai[b][d][j]	May 1975	Jun 1975
Position vacant	Jun 1975	09 Dec 1976
Farid Raphaël[e][k]	09 Dec 1976	16 Jul 1979
Youssef Gebran	16 Jul 1979	25 Oct 1980
Khatchig Babikian	25 Oct 1980	08 Oct 1982
Roger Shaikhani	08 Oct 1982	29 Apr 1984
Nabih Berri	29 Apr 1984	22 Sep 1988
Lotfi Jaber	22 Sep 1988	25 Nov 1989
Edmond Rizk	25 Nov 1989	16 May 1992
Nasri Maalouf[f]	16 May 1992	30 Oct 1992
Bahij Tabbara	31 Oct 1992	24 Dec 1998
Joseph Shaoul	24 Dec 1998	23 Oct 2000
Samir Jisr[l]	23 Oct 2000	26 Oct 2004
Adnan Addoum	26 Oct 2004	19 Apr 2005
Khaled Qabbani	19 Apr 2005	19 Jul 2005
Charles Rizk	19 Jul 2005	21 Jul 2008
Ibrahim Najjar	22 Jul 2008	13 Jun 2011
Shakib Qortbawi	13 Jun 2011	15 Feb 2014
Ashraf Rifi[m]	15 Feb 2014	21 Feb 2016
Position vacant	21 Feb 2016	18 Dec 2016
Salim Jreissati	18 Dec 2016	31 Jan 2019
Albert Serhan	31 Jan 2019	21 Jan 2020
Marie-Claude Najm[n]	21 Jan 2020	10 Sep 2021
Henry Khoury[o]	10 Sep 2021	08 Feb 2025
Adel Nassar	08 Feb 2025	Incumbent

See also

• Politics of Lebanon

Notes

1. Served simultaneously as Minister of Economy and Trade.
2. Served simultaneously as Minister of Public Health.
3. Their task was to hold parliamentary elections, and no ministerial statement was submitted.
4. Did not present themselves in front of Parliament and did not submit a ministerial statement.
5. Served simultaneously as Minister of Telecommunications.
6. Served simultaneously as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
7. Served simultaneously as Minister of Interior and Municipalities.
8. Served simultaneously as Minister of Education.
9. Appointed in April 1973, but did not submit a ministerial statement to Parliament. Reappointed in July 1973.
10. Resigned June 1975.
11. Served simultaneously as Minister of Finance.
12. Served simultaneously as Minister of Education from 17 April 2003 to 26 October 2004.
13. Resigned 21 February 2016.
14. Resigned 10 August 2020, but remained in office as caretaker minister.
15. Resigned 30 October 2022, but remained in office as caretaker minister.