Criminal Law and Procedure: Offence, Liability and the Route to Trial
The criminal paper covers the Lebanese Penal Code of 1943 and the Code of Criminal Procedure. It tests classification of offences, the elements of liability, participation, and the procedural route from complaint to cassation.
Substantive law
- Legality: no offence and no penalty without a prior text, which is strictly construed.
- Classification drives everything: crime (felony), délit (misdemeanour) and contravention (petty offence) determine the competent court, whether attempt is punishable, the prescription period and police powers.
- Material element plus moral element - intent, or negligence only where the text punishes it.
- Participation: co-authors, accomplices, and the rules on attempt. Justification: self-defence requires necessity, immediacy and proportionality.
Procedure
- Judicial police act under the public prosecutor's direction; garde à vue is a police measure under prosecutorial supervision, distinct from detention ordered by the juge d'instruction.
- The inquiry judge investigates, may order detention, and closes with an indictment order; the indictment chamber reviews the file.
- Felonies are tried by the Cour d'assises, misdemeanours by the correctional court; the Court of Cassation reviews law only.
- The victim may join as partie civile to claim damages within the criminal file.
Worked example
A threatens B with a knife and takes B's phone. The violence used to commit the theft converts simple theft into armed robbery - a felony - so the case goes before the Cour d'assises and a longer prescription period applies than for a misdemeanour.
Traps
Confusing garde à vue with judicial detention; believing a victim's withdrawal extinguishes the public action when only the law may provide that; forgetting the civil claim may be stayed pending the criminal outcome; ignoring that a minor is tried before a specialised court.