Permanent Legislative Committees - Lebanon

(website in Arabic)

Article 19 of Chapter 6 of the Internal Scheme of the Lebanese Parliament (Formation of Committees) requires the formation of a number of specialized permanent legislative committees after each parliamentary election. After each election, newly elected deputies are summoned to a closed election session to form the 15 committees mentioned in article 20 of the same scheme (as amended on 14/10/1999 and 31/10/2000).

According to Chapter 7 of the internal organizational scheme of the Lebanese parliament (Functions of the Committees), the head of the parliament forwards to each committee projects and legislative proposals, and emerging issues relevant to its specialization. Each committee discusses the files when it receives them, drafts a report that comprises its assessment and suggestions, and submits the report for discussion during the next parliamentary session.

When necessary, Joint Committees are formed out of the Permanent Committees. Such committees are used especially when there is a need to harmonize points of views of permanent specialized committees concerning intersecting issues (see Articles 38 and 39 in Chapter 7 of the Scheme). Joint Committees follow the same functional procedure as the Permanent Committees. They are, however, automatically dissolved as soon as their task is completed, i.e. as soon as the study of an issue or a project is completed and the report is submitted to the head of the parliament.

Developmental schemes, issues, and complaints related to women are the responsibility of the Committee for Health, Work, and Social Affairs and the Woman and Child Committee.

On 9 October 2002, the Committee for Health, Work, and Social Affairs approved the Project for Law No. 8635 that sanctions the Lebanese government to join the Convention on the Creation of the Arab Woman Organization signed in Cairo on 24 June 2002.

At the same time the Administration and Justice Committee and the Human Rights Committee played an important role in adopting draft laws requesting the ratification of CEDAW and several legal amendments in favour of women that were submitted by the non-governmental sector to the Lebanese Parliament.

Currently (2003), the Administration and Justice Committee is in the process of reviewing articles in the Lebanese laws that discriminate against women and are in contradiction with the CEDAW. This covers articles in the penal code, the personal status law, and the nationality law.