The Higher Judicial Council issued the following statement in regard with its latest meetings:

“On the basis that the judicial authority is exercised by all judges, who are responsible for preserving and safeguarding it, adhering to their oath, and not implicate themselves in what is not inconsistent with the nature of proper judicial work,

And on the basis that what is happening is not between those who want to fight corruption and hold the corrupt accountable, and those who do not want it or are trying to prevent it,

And based on the fact that what is happening is not a conflict between the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation and the Public Prosecutor at he Court of Appeal, and it is certainly not a political struggle between two parties as some portray it, and it is not a spur of the moment or the result of a file,

Indeed, what actually happened is that the Higher Judicial Council took a decision based on the role assigned to it by laws to ensure the proper functioning of the judiciary and its dignity and independence, and it is divided into three paths, which are: Requesting the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation and the head of the Judicial Inspection Authority to take appropriate measures, each within the scope of their competence, regarding the performance of Judge Ghada Aoun, and her testimony that was heard by the Council, due to her breach of the obligation of reservation, and her failure to implement her obligations repeatedly before the Council, and her refusal to attend the Cassation Public Prosecution Department,

By taking into consideration her positions and actions following the issuance of the decision of the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation on 15/4/2021 regarding the amendment of the distribution of work at the Public Prosecution Office of the Court of Appeal in Mount Lebanon,

And in light of the content of the statements of Judge Ghada Aoun in her hearing today before the Higher Judicial Council, regardless of what was raised about the content of the decision of the Public Prosecutor at the aforementioned Court of Cassation,

The Higher Judicial Council has decided the following:

1- To request the Judicial Inspection Authority to take the necessary action.
2- To ask Judge Ghada Aoun to abide by the decision of the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, effective to date.

The Council affirms that the course of any investigation in any judicial file will be followed up on until it is concluded by the competent judiciary, regardless of any considerations outside the judicial framework.

The Council also calls on female colleagues and fellow judges to abide by their oath, calling upon all to always invoke the rule of law to advance the nation, and that the head of the Higher Judicial Council will deliver a televised speech in which he addresses the general judicial situation, at a date to be determined later.