Archive | Law

#LifeForLife – Help Abaad Change The Prison Sentence for Incestuous Rape

By Rami on December 7, 2017 in Law

Abaad is a civil movement founded in 2011 that aims to achieve gender equality as an essential condition to sustainable social and economic development in region, and seeks to engage men in ending violence against women. Over the last period, they have been putting efforts to maximize the prison sentence for incestuous rape from 5 years to lifetime.

I personally never knew before seeing this campaign that the Lebanese law punishes such acts with a ridiculous 5 years in prison. Incest rape is probably the worst kind of sexual assaults and is guaranteed to ruin the life of the victim, so it is quite unfair for the perpetrator to be free in 5 years while victims are left with never ending emotional damage for their whole life.

What is also shocking is that as per Abaad, 49% of the sexual assault cases in Lebanon are committed by a close family member. Therefore, chapter 7 of the Lebanese penal code should be amended to at least change the punishment to a harder sentence if not a lifetime.

You can support Abaad have their voice heard by signing the petition on the campaign website here.

Valet Parking Fee Officially Set at 5,000L.L.

By Rami on August 4, 2017 in Law

If there’s one thing that unites the Lebanese people then it must be their hate for the Valet Parking workers. They’re overpriced, always rude, and they have the capability to doom a whole areas just like what they did in Gemmeyze and Mar Mkhayel! I seriously pity the people living in that surrounding as I personally do my best to avoid going there at night…

And unfortunately, just as in the case with illegal internet and cable TV providers, the government couldn’t keep the valet parking thugs from hijacking public spaces so it simply resorted to “regulating” their activities. For years now they have been imposing ridiculous prices up to 10,000L.L and sometimes more at lush venues, but a recent joint memo by the ministry of interior and the ministry of tourism fixed their service fee at 5,000L.L. So let’s hope it gets applied!

I’m not sure though if hotels are also subject to this memo.

#Undress522 – An Exhibition by Mireille Honein and ABAAD

By Rami on April 23, 2017 in Law

Activists supported by ABAAD succeeded back in December to make the parliament agree on a draft law to abolish the controversial penal code article 522 that allow rapists to escape jail time by marrying their victims, and in an attempt to push the parliament to fully approve this law the cooperated with artist Mireille Honein to exhibit 31 paper dresses swaying between the palm trees in Ain El Mraysseh yesterday as a symbol of how unjust is the article 522 to rape victims.

The exhibition was designed in Paris by Honein who brought it to Beirut to support the NGO with the pressure it is exercising to have the legislation abolished.

People who passed by the exhibition were also invited to sign a petition demanding the parliament to prioritize the abolishing of the article, which we all hope to finally seeing it happening during the next legislative session on May 15.

Photo via AFP/Patrick Baz

Municipality of Jounieh is Banning Colored Baby Chicks

By Rami on April 2, 2017 in Animals, Law

Dyeing chicks for Easter has been a tradition for ages now but I have always hated it. Not only because the used dye is toxic, but also because it turns the small chicks into seasonal gifts for children to enjoy an then quickly abandon after a short time.

And in a country where animal cruelty is rarely prosecuted, it’s good to finally see somebody doing some effort to stop this practice. The municipality of Jounieh posted on their Facebook page today that they are banning mobile vendors from selling colored chicks around the city.

I’m pretty sure if more municipalities did the same then it will only take a single season to stop those who dye baby chicks from doing it.

Update:

Ziad Chebib the governor of Beirut also banned the selling of baby chicks in Beirut.

You Now Need A Special Permit To Fly Your Drone in Lebanon

By Rami on March 9, 2017 in Law

The Lebanese Army announced two days ago that from now on drone owners in Lebanon need to apply for a licence from the Air Force, and they have three months to comply with this requirements. Moreover, a special permit will be needed from the Army Guidance Office each time they want to fly these drones especially around military bases.

I’m not sure how serious is the army going to be about applying this new regulation since they issues a similar memo two years ago but few people seem to have complied with it.

Other countries such as UAE and Kuwait have implemented similar regulation and I believe it’s about time to regulate drone usage in Lebanon, not necessarily everywhere but at least around sensitive locations such as Beirut Airport since it is very close to residential areas and any drone there can disrupt the air traffic just like what happened in Dubai last October.

The Problem With The New Red Light Cameras in Beirut

By Rami on February 18, 2017 in Government, Law

The traffic management center in Lebanon recently installed some red light cameras around Beirut in order to enforce traffic laws by automatically photographing people who run red lights or those who stop their cars on red AFTER the white stop bar. In their first tests, they unsurprisingly were able to record a violation every 8 seconds!

However, while the installation of these cameras is just logical in order to ensure the new traffic law is fully applied, you cant but feel that it is an ill-timed step… I mean let’s be honest, the majority of those who apply for a driving license show up on their test day to sign some papers and end up getting their license no matter how poor their knowledge about traffic laws is, and I really doubt most drivers are aware that you’re not supposed to stop the cars after the white bar on a red light. In fact, if you abide by this rule don’t be surprised to see people cutting you off and stopping in front of you…

The ultimate purpose for applying traffic rules is to reduce road accidents and avoid traffic jams. So it it were up to me, I would have allocated this project money to educate the masses and recruit additional police officers to ensure that the basic laws are applied. Till now, wherever you go in Beirut you see taxi cars and minibuses picking up passengers wherever they please on the road. Moreover, double parking is like norm everywhere… solving these two problems alone should guarantee making the traffic smoother all over the city. Let alone other problems caused by asshole motorbikers and pedestrians who insist on crossing the road no matter what color is the traffic light.

But then again, someone now thinks it is time to erect these cameras regardless of any other priorities, so brace yourselves, tickets are coming!

New Parking Tariffs in Beirut

By Rami on July 2, 2016 in Governmental, Law

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Due to the disproportionate tariffs set by parking owners across Beirut, governor Ziad Chebib and the municipality recently issued a new decree setting the maximum fees you should pay for private parkings around the city after dividing it into 4 regions as shown above, and the new tariffs are as follows:

First region (Blue):

from 0 to 3 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 3 to 5 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 5 to 8 hours:
5,000 L.L.
8 to 10 hours:
6,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
7,000 L.L.

Second region (Green):

from 0 to 4 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 4 to 7 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 7 to 10 hours:
5,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
6,000 L.L.

Third region (Yellow):

from 0 to 3 hours:
2,000 L.L.
from 3 to 5 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 5 to 8 hours:
3,500 L.L.
from 8 to 10 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
5,000 L.L.

Fourth region (Red):

from 0 to 4 hours:
2,000 L.L.
from 4 to 7 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 7 to 10 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
4,000 L.L.

As for covered parking spaces, the following tariffs apply:

First region (Blue):

from 0 to 3 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 3 to 5 hours:
5,000 L.L.
from 5 to 8 hours:
6,000 L.L.
from 8 to 10 hours
7,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
8,000 L.L.

Second region (Green):

from 0 to 4 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 4 to 7 hours:
5,000 L.L.
from 7 to 10 hours:
6,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
7,000 L.L.

Third region (Yellow):

from 0 to 3 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 3 to 5 hours:
3,500 L.L.
from 5 to 8 hours:
4,000 L.L.
8 to 10 hours:
4,500 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours:
5,500 L.L.

Fourth region (Red):

from 0 to 4 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 4 to 7 hours:
3,000 L.L.
from 7 to 10 hours:
4,000 L.L.
from 10 to 14 hours
4,500 L.L.

Note that the time is rounded up to the nearest hour after 10 minutes.

I’m not really sure how serious will the municipality be about obliging parking owners to abide by the set tariffs, but the chart will at least help you know whether you’re being ripped off or not!