Faculty of Law as an Effective Consultant to Public Institutions and Administration
Prof. Camille Habib
Dean of the Faculty of Law and Political and Administrative Sciences
Abstract:
The consultative work has always maintained its significance within the framework of the institutional work whereby the consultative contributes to the validity of the work. Consultation of experts is a manifestation of participation in minds in an attempt to eradicate the tyranny that might destroy the one who doesn’t consult others. Seeking advice is not a defect or a deficiency as the advice does not have the binding impact. The advice and consultancy are sought and usually given in accordance with the stipulations of the Almighty, “Consult them in the matters… .” Intellectuals and great thinkers, in principle, should be close to the people whose responsibility is to maintain the stability of the state and the government in order to provide them with consultancies and advice required to transform studies into policies and perceptions into decisions.
The Lebanese University has been always the mainstream which provides the institutions with an overflow of professional human cadres in all fields. The legislator, pursuant to Law no. 6/70 of 23/2/1970, reserved for members of the teaching faculty of the Lebanese University the right to belong to advisory councils of public interest that assume university competence and the right to provide scientific, legal, literary, technical, or other advice.
Based on this legislative authorization, the Faculty of Law has played a prominent role in providing pieces of advice and consultancies on the issues and challenges faced by the legislative and executive institutions of the State. This consultative role has taken different forms:
– Individual consultations conducted by faculty members who get appointed to serve as advisers to ministers or heads of public institutions, or by faculty members whose advice is directly and personally sought by deputies, ministers or directors-general.
– Consultations provided through participation in official bodies of an advisory nature, such as appointment to the Supreme Advisory Board.
– Consultations provided through participation in committees appointed to study specific files, where the government deliberately forms committees to study specific topics and requests from the Deanship of the Faculty of Law to assign those he deems appropriate to participate in such committees.
– Consultations provided through private initiatives, whether at the request of the Deanship of the Faculty of Law or voluntarily, whereby the faculty members are requested to write legal reports pertinent to adjudicating legislative or executive issues.
– Consultations provided through special committees established at the Faculty of Law, Political, and Administrative Sciences to provide advice to persons of public law. This is a new experience that the Faculty of Law, Political, and Administrative Sciences started in 2014 through the appointment of a permanent committee to provide the public sector with the necessary studies and advisory opinions.
However, the above mentioned roles of the consultant to the Faculty of Law haven’t been tremendously leveraged and optimized as the size of the legislative and executive branches is not at the required level, and action must be taken to activate such role.