Judge Habib Razqallah, who is married to the daughter of the head of Crédit Libanais, is among names under consideration to lead Lebanon's Supreme Judicial Council when the current chief's term ends in June 2027.
Razqallah currently chairs the ninth chamber of the Court of Cassation and sits on the Supreme Judicial Council. He is married to Nada, daughter of Joseph Tarbieh, chairman of Crédit Libanais, a bank at the centre of investigations into alleged financial misconduct during Lebanon's banking crisis.
Lebanese courts have heard hundreds of depositor lawsuits against banks over recent years. Some cases won at trial courts were reversed or dropped on appeal. In disputes involving Crédit Libanais, Razqallah recused himself because of his family tie to Tarbieh.
Judicial rulings in bank-depositor disputes permitted repayment by bank cheque rather than cash withdrawal. In cases documented in depositor lawsuits, the real value of these cheques was roughly fifteen per cent of their face value, leaving depositors with substantial losses.
Razqallah's advancement through the judicial hierarchy to chair a chamber of the Court of Cassation coincides with a period when banks mounted legal battles to block depositors from accessing their funds. Questions arise about whether financial interests or those defending them during the crisis wielded influence to promote judicial positions capable of shaping the outcome of banking cases.
